After President Arif Alvi stirred controversy by raising doubts on the timing of general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday said that there was no possibility of a delay in the polls — which are slated to be held at the end of January.
In an interview, President Alvi said he did not see polls taking place in January. He recalled that he made various “efforts” in this regard, including letters to the ECP and suggesting a cut-off date of Nov 6.
In a press release, the ECP said that Alvi’s comments during the interview had given the impression that polls may be postponed.
The electoral watchdog said that it dispelled the impression that there was a possibility of postponing the elections, adding that it had made its position in this regard clear. “The first phase of delimitation has been completed and the second phase of filing objections will be completed tomorrow,” it said. The ECP said it would start hearing objections regarding the preliminary delimitation from October 30 and 31. It said that the final list would be published on November 30.
The commission said that the election schedule would be announced once the final list of constituencies was published, adding that there was no “ambiguity” in this.
The ECP had earlier ruled out elections this year citing the need for fresh delimitation of constituencies.
