Is Pakistan gearing up for elections, once again? If so, when will they be held? That is the question being asked after the Chief Election Commissioner announced that the ECP is “always ready for elections”, following a report nearly two weeks ago that the delimitation of National Assembly and provincial assembly constituencies, based on the 2017 census results, would be complete by mid-August. Electoral rolls are also being revised, and a summary outlining expenditures for the next election has been presented in the National Assembly.
As an editorial in Dawn asks, “Does the system know something we do not?” It appears that “the system is ready for a general election, even if a timeline for the polls remains moot. The situation has significantly changed from just weeks ago when several legal and technical challenges had clouded the prospects of elections being held anytime soon.”
