ECP hits back at 'unnecessary' criticism by ex-ministers

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday hit back at former federal ministers’ “unnecessary criticism” saying it has the capability to hold general elections in the country.

Reacting to the statements of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari, the ECP said the election monitoring body was well aware of its constitutional duties.

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“Institutions and individuals should fulfill their duties in a timely manner and abstain from unnecessary criticism,” the commission said in a statement. It pointed out that new delimitation of constituencies is necessary after the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) that reduced the National Assembly seats to 266.

The commission said it started the delimitation process after the 2017 census results were notified on May 6, 2021 but had to halt it after the government decided to hold a fresh census.

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The ECP said it later wrote letters to the government asking it to hold the fresh census as soon as possible so that delimitations could be carried out accordingly. The delimitation process suffered delays due to the government’s inability to conduct the census, it added.