NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced that general elections would be held in the last week of January 2024, Dawn News reported.
The ECP said in a statement that it has completed its review of the constituency delimitation process and have decided that the initial list for constituency delimitation will be officially released on September 27.
“After hearing objections and suggestions regarding the exercise, the final list would be issued on November 30 and after that, after a 54-day election programme, polls will be held in the last week of January 2024,” the ECP said.Political unrest has gripped Pakistan since April 2022, after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office through a parliamentary vote of no confidence.
Khan was arrested in early August on corruption charges and imprisoned after a court convicted and sentenced him to three years in prison.
Pakistan is also undergoing the process of redrawing its electoral boundaries to align with the most recent census data.
Earlier this month, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was concerned about the scope for institutions to manipulate the electoral process.
“The delimitation of constituencies must also be completed quickly and efficiently and under no circumstances used as an excuse to delay the elections any further,” it said in a statement.
“Apart from ensuring that free, fair and credible elections take place, the test of the current caretaker government is to see not only whether it will protect and respect people’s right to protest peacefully, but also whether it will respond to the issues that ordinary citizens are mobilising around.”