Pakistan to hold national vote in January: Election panel

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced that the 241-million South Asian nation will hold elections in the last week of January, 2024, a statement said, instead of in November this year.

The elections had been due to be held in November, but were delayed by a couple of weeks due to fresh marking of constituencies, according to a new census.

A final list of the new constituencies will be ready and published by Nov 30, the ECP said, and the nation will vote late in January after a 54-day process that includes filing nomination papers, appeals and campaigning.

The elections are due after the outgoing Parliament completed a five-year term in August. A caretaker government has been installed to supervise the election.

The new elected government will face the challenge of managing an economy that avoided a default after securing a US$3 billion (S$4.1 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund in July. It will also have to deal with public anger that have been protesting nationwide because of rising energy costs and the highest inflation in Asia.

The polls are likely to see a three-way battle for power. Three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party and imprisoned ex-premier Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf will attempt to return to power amid a challenge from former President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party.

Both Sharif, who has lived in exile in UK since 2019, and Khan can’t participate in elections as they have been disqualified by courts that found them guilty of corruption.

Sharif’s party joined Mr Zardari in ousting Khan through a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April last year. They formed a coalition government with other allies for about 16 months till the end of its five-year term in August.

Ahead of the elections, Khan will be probed for sedition, which carries a maximum punishment of death, for allegedly inciting his supporters to attack state buildings.

The firebrand politician has seen legal challenges mount after he was removed from power. He received a three-year jail term in a graft case in August that the Islamabad High Court suspended until a final verdict, but he is still arrested in another case for leaking a secret diplomatic cable when he was in power.

The authorities have framed more than 150 cases against Khan from murder to corruption and inciting violence. The sedition charges were added after police said his supporters broke the law, clashed with authorities and damaged government and military buildings on May 9 after he was briefly arrested in one of the cases.

Pakistan’s new census showed a 16 per cent increase in population to 241.5 million people with slightly over half of age to vote. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG