Pakistan to hold general elections on February 11 after months of uncertainty
General elections in Pakistan will be held on February 11, the election commission informed the Supreme Court on Thursday, putting an end to months-long uncertainty over the polls. The Election Commission of Pakistan's counsel, Sajeel Swati, said the process of drawing constituencies would be completed by January 29, paving the way for the polls.
He said this as the Supreme Court resumed hearing on a set of petitions calling for holding elections within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures. Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on August 9.
The announcement coincides with the beginning of negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of USD 710 million second tranche of a $3 billion loan to the cash-strapped country to stabilise its debt-ridden economy. The clarity on the election date will strengthen the hands of the Ministry of Finance during the talks, although the IMF has not explicitly attached any such condition.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up the pleas moved by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others, the Dawn newspaper reported. The ECP had earlier ruled out polls this year citing the need for fresh delimitation of constituencies.
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, Article 224 of the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7. But at the same time, Section 17(2) of the Elections Act states that “the commission shall delimit
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