Pakistan to hold general elections in last week of January, says poll panel

Pakistan’s poll panel has announced the much-awaited general elections will be held in the last week of January next year.

In a short statement on Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the polls, due to be held in November, were delayed due to fresh marking of the constituencies. A final list of new constituencies will be published by November 30 and the vote will take place late in January after a 54-day process that includes filing nomination papers, appeals and campaigning, the poll panel said.

The elections in the South Asian nation of 241 million residents were due after the outgoing parliament completed its five-year term in August. A caretaker government was then installed to supervise the vote.

According to Pakistan’s constitution, elections must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the national or a provincial assembly on completing a full term, or within 90 days if the dissolution takes place earlier.

But days before the expiry of the outgoing government’s term, the then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the results of the country’s latest census, which is to be followed by the redrawing – or delimitation – of some constituencies. The announcement of the election came as Pakistan grapples with severe economic, political and security crises.

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