Elections delay likely as CCI okays fresh census

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Saturday approved the final results of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 reporting the country’s population at 241.49 million with a growth rate of 2.55 percent.

Approval of the census by the CCI would lead to a delay in general elections for the purpose of delimitation exercise as per constitutional requirements. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif presided over the 50th meeting of CCI which approved the results of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 and the country’s first-ever digital census, the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement said. With the latest development, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be constitutionally bound to hold elections following delimitations in the light of the results of the 7th census as approved by the CCI meeting.

The total population of the country was recorded at 241.49 million with a growth rate of 2.55 percent, according to Focal Person, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Muhammad Sarwar Gondal. According to the final approved results, the total population of Punjab was recorded at 127.68 million as the population growth rate of the province was 2.53 pc, he said adding that the population of Sindh was 55.69 million with a growth rate of 2.57 pc. Meanwhile, he said that the total population of Balochistan is 14.89 million with a growth rate of 3.2 pc, whereas the total population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 40.85 million with a growth rate of 2.38 pc. Muhammad Sarwar Gondal said that according to the final approved results of the 7th Population and Housing Census, the total population of Islamabad is 2.36 million with a growth rate of 2.81 pc. The rural population of the country is 61.18pc while the urban population is 38.82 pc, he said adding that 84.99pc of the KP population is rural while 15.01pc is urban.

Meanwhile, 59.30% of Punjab’s population is rural while 40.70pc is urban, 46.27pc of Sindh’s population is rural and 53.7pc is urban. 69.04pc of the Balochistan population is rural while 30.96pc is urban. 53.10pc of Islamabad’s population is rural while 46.90pc is urban, Muhammad Sarwar Gondal added.

According to Article 51 (5) of the Constitution, the seats of the National Assembly to each province and the federal capital shall be allocated on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published. The ECP had already announced that it would require four to six months to hold general elections if required to be held on the basis of the latest census. The sources said that the general elections could be delayed till March or April 2024.

However, former law minister and PPP senator Raza Rabbani, referring to section 230 of the Election Act had said on the floor of the Senate on Friday that the caretaker chief ministers ( Punjab, KPK) could not be part of major decisions while sitting on the CCI meeting. The coalition government also announced the premature dissolution of assemblies on August 9, three days prior to the completion of five years tenure.

All the chief ministers and representatives of the political parties who attended the meeting were unanimous on the results of the census, the statement of the PM office said. The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal. On special invitation, Dr Khalid Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Syed Aminul Haq of MQM, Maulana Asad Mahmood of JUI-F and Qamar Zaman Kaira also attended the meeting. It may be pointed out here that the PPP leadership had supported holding general elections as per results of the 2017 census while the MQM favoured the conduct of polls on the basis of results of the 7th census. The prime minister on the occasion said that the country’s first-ever digital census was completed in the best way which is a good omen for the country’s future.

Shehbaz Sharif appreciated the role of Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal. Provincial governments and officials of the Bureau of Statistics in the successful completion of census 2023. “It is a great day for strengthening the Federal of Pakistan as the CCI has unanimously approved the seventh census,” the prime minister on Twitter said. He said the representatives of political parties joined the meeting on special invitation and the idea was to make them informed and through deliberations in line with the PDM Government’s approach of dealing with national issues through consensus. Shehbaz Sharif said the entire census was organized under the supervision of a census advisory committee that had a representation of all stakeholders including provincial governments and renowned statisticians, Nadra, National Telecom Corporation and Suparco who provided support to carry out the process in the most transparent, credible and efficient way. “My special thanks are due to all the relevant federal ministers, provincial chief ministers and their governments, Nadra, Suparco, NTC, the armed forces, police and above all teachers who took part in the gigantic exercise. They rendered tremendous national service,” the prime minister said.