Reiterating their call for general elections within 90 days, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has reinforced on Friday that it agreed to endorse the digital census results at the Council of Common Interests (CCI) only after receiving assurances that the action wouldn’t hinder the timely conduct of elections. The move, however, is now being exploited as a pretext to delay the polls.
Hinting at the possibility of pursuing “legal course” to uphold their principled stance, PPP leader Nayyar Bukhari said that if the party’s attempt to convince the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to meet the constitutionally mandated 90-day deadline, during the meeting scheduled for August 29, remains unsuccessful, the next central executive committee meeting in Lahore in September would unveil their final strategy.
Speaking at a press conference alongside fellow party members at Bilawal House after the CEC meeting, PPP leaders adopted a more assertive tone in response to the ECP’s recent announcement. The ECP stated that the process of revising the delimitation of national and provincial assembly constituencies would conclude by December 14, extending beyond the constitutionally set deadline for conducting general elections.
Sindh’s former chief minister Murad Ali Shah said that his party does not want elections to be postponed due to new delimitations. “Our aim is that the elections should be held on time. This census does not require fresh delimitations,” he added.
The digital census, he said, was controversial, adding that the Constitution does not say to conduct fresh delimitations after the census.
