Uncertainty Ends: Pakistan To Conduct General Elections On 11 February, Poll Commission Tells Supreme Court

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that Pakistan's general elections will take place on 11 February. This information was conveyed to the Pakistan Supreme Court during a hearing on various petitions, as reported by Geo TV.

The ECP's lawyer informed a three-member bench that the elections would occur following the completion of delimitation on 30 November. Despite earlier indications that the elections would be held in the last week of January, the ECP had refrained from specifying an exact date, despite pressure from political parties.

The constitutional requirement mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the National Assembly's dissolution, which was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term. This 90-day limit is set to expire on 7 November.

However, the ECP chose to conduct a delimitation exercise based on the new census conducted nationwide in March and April of the current year, a decision that allowed them to extend the timeline for elections. This decision was made in accordance with the approval of the census by the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

Pakistan has been grappling with political uncertainty since the removal of the Imran Khan government through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly in April 2022, amid a significant economic crisis.