PMLN, PPP at odds over fresh delimitations ahead of polls

KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz appear to have divergent views on the issue of carrying out fresh delimitations of constituencies in the country before the next general elections as a result of the latest digital census.

The PPP has said the Election Commission of Pakistan is constitutionally bound to conduct the polls in 90 days, notwithstanding the results of the fresh census, whereas the PMLN says the ECP is duty-bound to conduct fresh delimitations of constituencies in the country after formal approval of the census results as per the Constitution.

Appearing in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Friday after the PPP warned any delay in holding the elections beyond 90 days could lead to a constitutional crisis in the country, PMLN Central Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal said the political parties should refrain from politicising constitutional issues.

He said that in addition to the chief ministers of the four provinces and other members of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), the representatives of political parties that were part of the last coalition government, were especially invited to attend the last CCI session, which discussed and approved the results of the digital census.

Answering a question, Iqbal said half of what former Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was saying was accurate in that there was no need to adopt any constitutional amendment when there was no change in the inter-province number of seats in the legislatures as a result of the census outcome. However, he said there would be a change in the inter-district number of seats in provinces owing to the change of the population of certain districts as a result of the census.

He said the results of the latest census had shown that the population of certain districts in Punjab and Sindh had increased, while the number of residents of some other districts had decreased, and due to such an outcome of the census there would be a change in the number of seats on an inter-district basis.

The senior PMLN leader said that if the ECP decided not to carry out fresh delimitations of constituencies, there was a chance that there would be overrepresentation of certain districts while some other districts would be underrepresented in the legislatures. “This is going to affect the basic democratic principle of one man, one vote,” he added.

He said the ECP was duty-bound as per the Constitution to conduct fresh delimitations of constituencies after notifying of the census results. “As per the Constitution and law, the ECP doesn’t have any other choice but to carry out the fresh delimitations after the publishing of the census results.”

Iqbal said that in case the ECP opted for not carrying out new delimitations, then any person could move the court in the near future against the conduct of general polls on the basis of old constituencies, and that could create a crisis situation.

To a question, he said he had attended the last session of the CCI and it had discussed only the census results, but no assurance had been given to the PPP representatives about holding the polls timely.

Earlier in the day, the PPP demanded that the next general elections should be held in the country within the 90-day period given in the Constitution, saying that to save Pakistan from any constitutional and political crisis, the polls should not be unduly delayed.

Speaking at a media briefing after a meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the party at the Bilawal House in Karachi, which was jointly chaired by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president and party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leader Sherry Rehman said the future line of action of the party would be given after the next meeting of the CEC to be held in Lahore. Before the next session of the CEC, a delegation of the Peoples Party will meet the chief election commissioner on August 29.

“The caretaker government should act as a caretaker administration as it shouldn’t assume the role of chair-taker,” Rehman said.

She told the media persons that the CEC meeting took into consideration the prevailing economic crisis in the country, the increasing poverty level, and frequent hikes in the prices of electricity, petroleum products, and other essential products.

She said the CEC meeting also reviewed the situation concerning the forthcoming general elections in the country. She said the PPP had a clear stance on the issue that there was a clear-cut constitutional provision for holding the polls in 90 days without any ambiguity.

Rehman said the party had serious reservations about the recently held digital census in the country. She believed that the polls shouldn’t be delayed on the pretext of carrying out fresh delimitation of constituencies, especially when there would be no increase in the seats of the legislatures as a result of the digital census.

The CEC meeting also decided that the PPP would launch a countrywide membership drive next month. Rehman said her party was in the process of preparing its manifesto for the polls. She said the PPP’s manifesto stood for granting equal rights to every citizen, particularly women and members of the religious minorities in the country.

Senior PPP leader Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said the Constitution called for holding polls in 90 days, and there was no provision in it regarding delimitations.

Responding to a question, former Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said he had approved the results of the digital census in the CCI meeting with the view that the polls should be held in the country on time.

He said there would be no change in the number of seats in the National Assembly due to the census results. He was of the view that the ECP could conduct the forthcoming general elections without fresh delimitations of constituencies.

Shah said there would be no increase in the number of Sindh-based seats in the legislatures as a result of the new census. He added that the population statistics of each census block were yet to be announced.He stressed that the ECP was constitutionally bound to conduct the polls in 90 days.