ISLAMABAD – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reiterated that elections 2024 will be held on February 8, while responding to a resolution passed in Senate today to delay the general polls.
Reports in local media cited ECP sources as claiming that the elections could not be delayed without the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Earlier today, the upper house of Pakistani Parliament passed a resolution, presented by Senator Dilawar Khan, seeking a delay in the next general elections, citing security conditions and the cold weather.
In his resolution, Khan cited an increase in security events, mostly in the regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and said that Pakistan’s interior ministry had “conveyed serious threats to [the] lives of prominent politicians.”
He went on to say that the harsh winter makes it harder for political parties to run their campaigns, which may have an impact on polling place participation.
“To enable the effective participation of people from all regions of Pakistan and belonging to all political shades in the electioneering process, the elections scheduled for February 8, 2024, may be postponed,” the resolution stated.
Just 14 of the 97 senators present in the upper chamber of the Senate, backed the proposal. One senator opposed the resolution and voted against it.
In Pakistan’s 75-year history, there have been 11 prior general elections; three of them (1985, 1997, and 2008) have occurred in February.
Following the dissolution of the lower house of parliament in August of last year, Pakistan was set to hold national elections in November.
General Elections 2024
The election commission says their preparations for the Feb 8 polls have entered the final stages.
The electoral body on Thursday released the polling scheme related to the constituencies. According to details, 91,809 polling stations have been established for 120.85 million voters. The number of male voters is 60.92 million, while the number of female voters is 50.93 million.
More than 1.07 million polling staff will perform their duties on the election day – 96,812 presiding officers, 604,000 assistant presiding officers, and 307,000 polling officers.
According to the document, 526,123 polling staff will be deployed at 51,821 polling stations of Punjab. Approximately, 264,100 polling officers will be deployed at 19,236 polling stations of Sindh.
