Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should conduct the process of delimitations transparently.
The chief justice made these comments while a two-member Supreme Court (SC) bench made up of Justice Bandial and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi took up a plea pertaining to faults and illegalities in the delimitation for PS-07, PS-08, and PS-09 of Sindh’s Shikarpur district. The petition alleged that PS-07, PS-08, and PS-09 were illegally drawn up.
Following the approval of the first-ever digital census’s final results earlier this month, the ECP is now anticipated to carry out a new round of constituency delimitations.
However, the electoral body had recently declared that conducting polls on fresh delimitation was not possible and that the exercise would require four to six months, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held this year.
The ECP, Justice Bandial stressed, should conduct delimitations transparently. “There is a lot of sensitivity on delimitations in Sindh,” he highlighted, adding that grievances regarding incorrect delimitations often came from the province.
The CJP once inquired about the timing of the ECP elections. The director-general (legal) of the electoral watchdog didn’t say anything, though.
Justice Bandial said with a smirk, “This means that a date for the general elections has not yet been determined.”
He therefore referred the petition back to the electoral authority and ordered the ECP to settle all problems in advance of the election.
