ISLAMABAD - Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday asked the government to complete legal formalities within a week to ensure timely completion of delimitation of constituencies and revision of electoral rolls.
Talking to media after a meeting with Secretaries Law and Statistics, Secretary of the Commission Babar Yaqub Fateh Muhammad said a strategy for two exercises would be formulated after a week.
He said the cabinet has approved in principle delimitation of constituencies but the task cannot be undertaken until and unless the provisional or final results of the latest census are notified officially.
The secretary said completion of delimitation and revision of electoral rolls was crucial to ensure quality and integrity of the general elections.
New election laws stipulate that the ECP has to finalise polling scheme and delimitation at least six months prior to general elections. According to the law, the election commission has to complete all preparations by April as the general elections are due in August-September 2018.
Under existing constitutional provision, the ECP can hold delimitation only after census data is officially notified. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has said that it will do so in April next year.
Babar Yaqoob said the ECP cannot start work on delimitation unless legal provision permitted it to do so and added that Rs4 billion will be required to carry out fresh delimitation and revision of electoral rolls.
