Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said Friday that the much-awaited schedule for general elections would be issued 54 days ahead of the February 8 polls, which is expected to fall in the third week of December.
During an informal conversation with journalists, Raja was asked when would the commission release the election schedule. In response, he said: “Count 54 days backwards from February 8.”
The CEC mentioned that the updated constituency lists had been released, and all other election prerequisites were being completed smoothly. He said the ECP has been proactively handling election-related responsibilities ahead of schedule.
The timely announcement of the election schedule, appointment of returning officers, and district returning Officers will be ensured at an appropriate time, he added.
The ECP notified the final list of delimitation of constituencies of the national and four provincial assemblies and had also rejected the reports of a possible delay in elections.
Per the notification issued by the election commission, according to Article 51(3) of the Constitution, the National Assembly consists of 266 general seats, with 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims.
Balochistan has a total of 20 NA seats, including 16 general and four reserved seats for women; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 45 general NA seats and 10 reserved seats for women; Sindh has a total of 75 NA seats of which 61 are general and the remaining 14 are reserved for women.
Punjab, population-wise the largest province, has the biggest share of 141 general NA seats and 32 seats reserved for women while the federal capital has representation of three general seats in the National Assembly with no seat reserved for women.
