Islamabad (Web Desk): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that the general elections will be conducted in the last week of January 2024.
The announcement came after a meeting of the ECP in Islamabad which reviewed the work of delimitation of constituencies.
In a statement, the ECP said that it reviewed work on delimiting constituencies and decided that the initial list for the delimitation of constituencies would be published on September 27.
The electoral body said that after hearing objections and suggestions regarding the exercise, the final list would be issued on November 30.
It added that the elections would be held in the last week of January following the completion of a 54-day election campaign programme.
On Wednesday, the ECP said that it had convened a meeting with political parties on October 4 to discuss the code of conduct specified in Section 233 of the Election Act 2017, for the upcoming general elections.
It added that draft of the code of conduct has been provided to political party leaders in advance, allowing them to provide feedback more effectively during the consultation.
As per the draft code issued by the ECP, political parties, contesting candidates and election agents shall not propagate any opinion, or act in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan, or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan, or morality or public order, or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan, or which defames or brings into ridicule any government institution including the judiciary and the armed forces.
Earlier, the ECP had ruled out elections this year, citing the need for fresh delimitation of constituencies following the notification of the latest 2023 digital census.
On September 13, President Dr Arif Alvi, in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, on Wednesday proposed November 6 as the date to hold general elections in Pakistan.
In the letter, the president wrote that in the light of Article 48(5) of the Constitution, he has the authority and mandate “to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution [of assemblies], for holding of a general election to the assembly.”
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, Article 224 of the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7.