General elections: PPP sees ECP’s announcement ‘unconstitutional’

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) announcement regarding the general elections has not yet removed the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) reservations, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders have still raised concerns over the ECP’s announcement for the general elections and termed it an unconstitutional and unacceptable move.

Sources within the political party told ARY News that PPP leaders contacted chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and apprised him about their reservations over the ECP’s announcement.

The PPP top leaders decided to summon central executive committee’s (CEC) session to hold consultations after Bilawal’s return to Pakistan.

Sources said that PPP termed the ECP’s announcement ‘unconstitutional and unacceptable’ as they were hoping the unveiling of the exact date of elections. They said that the election commission should have announced the exact date and schedule for the polls.

Related: PPP ‘welcomes’ ECP’s decision to hold elections in Jan 2024

Sources added that the ECP would be held accountable for not holding polls in accordance with the Constitution. The PPP CEC will mull over different options in its upcoming session and formulate its future strategy.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that general elections would be held in the last week of January 2024.

In a statement, the ECP said that it reviewed work on delimiting constituencies and decided that the initial list for the delimitation of constituencies would be published on September 27.

“The final delimitation list will be published on November 30,” said ECP, adding that general elections will be held in the last week of January 2024 following the 54-day election schedule.

The electoral body was under immense pressure from the political parties regarding the announcement of the election date.

The announcement comes a day after the ECP said it had scheduled a meeting with political parties next month to discuss the code of conduct for general elections.