The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has called a meeting on Monday to discuss the approval of the first digital census and initiation process of new delimitations across the country.
The meeting will be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The upcoming general elections in the country might face a delay as the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on Saturday gave its unanimous approval to the 2023 census.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif led the CCI meeting to make a decision regarding the 2023 census, which had been a topic of debate among coalition partners.
The meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Other participants included Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Adviser to the PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, along with other officials.
A statement released after the meeting confirmed the approval of the 2023 census with the agreement of all four chief ministers and representatives from various political parties.
The recent seventh census has counted a total of 241.49 million people, according to the prime minister’s office.
But before elections can happen, the boundaries of voting areas need to be adjusted based on this new data. This extra work, as explained by Law Minister Nazeer Tarar, might take around four more months.
It is expected that the ECP will make a decision on initiation of new constituencies in the meeting.
Further, the agenda for the meeting also includes a review of law wing’s report on the removal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan from the party chairmanship.
This is because an Islamabad court has disqualified the former premier from politics for five years, apart from three years imprisonment in Toshakhana case.
