Fresh delimitation
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that conducting true representation of voters, contesting candidates, or political parties in the parliament and provincial assemblies will become impossible without fresh delimitation of constituencies and revised electoral rolls.
The Commission stated this in its three-page order issued on Friday. The ECP issued this order after criticism from some political parties for delaying elections on the pretext of the new census.
The order from the ECP stated that it is the commission’s responsibility, as per Article 219(a) of the Constitution, to prepare electoral rolls for elections to the National Assembly, provincial assemblies, and local governments, and to periodically revise these rolls to keep them up to date.
The order further explained that after the publication of the 7th Population Census, changes had occurred in census blocks, necessitating the revision and updating of electoral rolls to align with census data.
The Commission also stressed that this representation is not only a fundamental right of contesting candidates, political parties, and the electorate but has also been established as such by the Supreme Court in various cases.
The electoral body highlighted that its duty, as outlined in Article 218(3) of the Constitution, is to organize and conduct elections while ensuring fairness, honesty, and adherence to the law.
Referring to Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP indicated that constituencies must be delimited after each officially published census.
The 7th Population and Housing Census (digital census) by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, published on 07-08-2023, was also mentioned in the order.
