THE Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has not given a definite date but expressed readiness to conduct the general election in the last week of January 2024. The Commission, after reviewing the latest position vis-à-vis ongoing process of delimitation of constituencies, said in a statement on Thursday that the initial list of constituencies would be published on September 27 and after hearing objections and suggestions the final list would be published on November 30, fifteen days earlier than the originally announced date of December 15. After the release of a 54-day election schedule, following the publication of the delimitation of constituencies, the ECP said elections would be held in the last week of January, 2024.
It is not clear as to why the Commission, instead of announcing a clear-cut date, confined itself to expressing the possibility of holding elections in the last week of January. Announcement of a particular date was very important and relevant as it would end the prevailing confusion and uncertainty about the general election in the backdrop of wild conjectures and speculations by some circles about possible delay and prolongation of the period of the interim setup. Anyhow, even then, it is a positive development and that is why it has generally been welcomed by most of the political parties. In its reaction, the PML(N) expressed satisfaction that, in line with its suggestions, timelines for delimitation of constituencies have been reduced making it possible to hold elections in January than the originally envisaged February. One of its vocal leaders — Ahsan Iqbal — has pointed out that with the announcement of the ECP uncertainty about elections has ended and now all parties should focus on election preparations. This is a logical proposition as, instead of focusing on polls and releasing their plans to address the challenges confronting the nation, political parties prefer indulging in rhetoric and mere sloganeering. Ahsan Iqbal has also made proposals worth consideration by all political forces as he emphasized the need to make the election process peaceful and that the exercise should lead to formation of a stable government which could tackle the serious issues facing the country. His proposal that the party, which comes to power, should take all parties on board and work on the economic agenda with consensus is also the need of the hour as the kinds of ills plaguing the economy cannot be tackled by a single party irrespective of the level of its mandate. We had a pleasant experience of a coalition government for about one and a half years and this can be replicated with some modifications laying emphasis on transparency and good governance. As for PPP, it has not given a clear-cut reaction but its leaders like Qamar Zaman Kaira and Rana Farooq Saeed have termed it a positive development. They, however, believed that instead of specifying a month for holding elections, the Commission should have given a firm date along with the entire election schedule to end the uncertainty on this account. This is a saner approach on the part of the PPP which has also been emphasizing the need to conduct elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. The former ruling party, PTI, has understandably rejected the announcement of the Commission as it is proponent of elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the NA, declaring it would agitate the issue before the judiciary. This is not surprising as the party has remained at odds with other political parties and stakeholders on different issues including timing for polls. It is entitled to approach the court but the strategy might delay the process further. There seems to be no worthwhile justification to challenge the decision of the Commission in the Supreme Court when the initial list of the constituencies is about to be published. The announcement of the Election Commission has also ended the controversy as to who was authorized to fix a date for elections. The President had already asked the Commission to do so in consultation with other stakeholders and now the Commission has announced a possible timing keeping in view the ground situation. It is now time to gear up for elections and all efforts should be directed at making them peaceful, fair and transparent in the true sense of the word.
