The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced it will issue the schedule for the Feb. 8, 2024 general elections 54 days ahead of the polls—mid-December—fulfilling a longstanding demand of political parties.
Confirming the development in an informal chat with journalists, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said the electoral body had already released the updated constituency lists and was currently proceeding with other prerequisites. He further said that the appointment of returning officers and district returning officers would be ensured at an appropriate time.
As several political parties have repeatedly demanded the ECP release the election schedule, legal experts have pointed out that amendments to Section 57 of the Elections Act—enacted by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government—have laid out a timeline for the announcement of the polls’ schedule through polling day, roughly 54 days.
The announcement also comes amidst ongoing speculation over a further delay to polls, where were initially set to take place in mid-November after the dissolution of the National Assembly in mid-August. The ECP had earlier rubbished such reports, warning that it could initiate legal action against anyone spreading such misinformation in light of Supreme Court order describing the Feb. 8, 2024 date as “written in stone.”
Separately, an ECP spokesperson said the CEC had invited the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for a meeting on Monday (Dec. 4) to discuss and address the party’s apprehensions regarding the polling exercise. He also criticized recent remarks of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Babar Awan, who had alleged the National Assembly seats from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were “reduced” to hurt his party’s chances of forming the next government.
Noting that the 25th Amendment had abolished 12 seats in the erstwhile FATA areas after their merger with KP, the spokesperson said the overall seats for the province consequently increased from 39 to 45. Similarly, he said, the KP Assembly’s seats had increased from 99 to 115, stressing that the ECP lacked the mandate to reduce seats for any province. “It is the prerogative of Parliament to determine the seats of national and provincial assemblies, and according to the constitutionally allotted seats, the Election Commission has divided the constituencies,” he added.