NEW DELHI: The general elections in Pakistan will be held on February 11, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Thursday.
The date was shared by an election commission lawyer with the Pakistan Supreme Court during the hearing of petitions, Geo TV reported.
“Elections in the country will be held in the country (after) completion of delimitation on November 30,” ECP’s lawyer told the three-member bench.
The ECP has earlier stated that the elections would be held in the last week of January but refused to give an exact date despite demands from political parties.
The 90-day limit of holding elections after the dissolution of the National Assembly is set to expire on November 7, which the ECP decided to ignore to carry out a delimitation exercise in the light of the new census held countrywide in March and April of this year.
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7.
However, the ECP had said it was constitutionally bound to draw fresh boundaries ahead of the elections as the Council of Common Interest (CCI) had approved the census.
Pakistan, in the midst of a major economic crisis, has been gripped by political uncertainty ever since the Imran Khan government was removed through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly in April 2022.
The date was shared by an election commission lawyer with the Pakistan Supreme Court during the hearing of petitions, Geo TV reported.
“Elections in the country will be held in the country (after) completion of delimitation on November 30,” ECP’s lawyer told the three-member bench.
The ECP has earlier stated that the elections would be held in the last week of January but refused to give an exact date despite demands from political parties.
The 90-day limit of holding elections after the dissolution of the National Assembly is set to expire on November 7, which the ECP decided to ignore to carry out a delimitation exercise in the light of the new census held countrywide in March and April of this year.
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7.
However, the ECP had said it was constitutionally bound to draw fresh boundaries ahead of the elections as the Council of Common Interest (CCI) had approved the census.
Pakistan, in the midst of a major economic crisis, has been gripped by political uncertainty ever since the Imran Khan government was removed through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly in April 2022.