Senator Raza Rabbani on Tuesday warned the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against a delay in general elections, which are to be held within 90 days of the National Assembly’s (NA) dissolution as per the Constitution.

In a statement issued today, Rabbani said, “Any delay in the holding of general elections, within the constitutional period will have serious consequences for the Federation.”

He added, “Such consequences shall rest on the shoulders of [the] Election Commission, should it not act immediately to fulfil its constitutional mandate.”

His statement comes almost a week after the National Assembly’s premature dissolution — three days ahead of the completion of its tenure — after the PML-N-led government decided to do so with the consensus of its coalition partners.

In his statement today, Rabbani noted, “It is now six days since the National Assembly [was] dissolved — the clock is ticking on the constitutional requirement under Article 224 [of the] Constitution, 1973, of holding elections within 90 days.”

The former Senate chairman expressed surprise as to why the ECP had not issued any “comprehensive statement with reference to or dealing with the holding of general elections”.

The PPP senator demanded that the ECP “should immediately, categorically, state the time required by it, for the delimitation of constituencies after the digital census”.

“The Election Commission should not take this as a routine matter nor should it keep the precedence of Punjab and KP assemblies before it,” he added, referring to the delay in holding provincial polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Fears of delay in general polls

The Constitution provides that if the assembly completes its tenure, elections are to be held in 60 days, but in case of premature dissolution — which will be the case here — this period is extended to 90 days.

However, a few days ago, former opposition leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz said that general elections would be held in February — three months later than the constitutionally allowed limit of 90 days that falls in November.

Recent statements by former interior minister Rana Sanaullah and former defence minister Khawaja Asif — both PML-N leaders — have also consolidated the likelihood that polls will be delayed beyond the 90-day timeframe.

When asked in a Geo News programme if 2023 was the year when elections would be held, Sanaullah had said, “It is an absolutely straightforward answer — no.”

He had stated the same while speaking in another programme: “I cannot predict the future but if 90 days have turned into 120 days, there is a clear constitutional argument present for it.”

Separately, in an interview with CNN, Asif had noted that elections were “due in November” but had also acknowledged: “There is a possibility of a delay but not more than a couple of months on technical grounds, and no ulterior motive in that.”

After the Council of Common Interests had approved the 2023 census results on August 5, a Dawn report also cited a senior ECP official as saying that the commission was “now legally bound to go for fresh delimitation, which would take at least four months”.

“It’s a constitutional requirement and we will have to do it,” he had remarked. “The details will be worked out by the commission in a meeting, which would be held after they received the official notification.”

The report quoted another official as saying that the ECP will also be required to update electoral rolls and take other related steps, indicating that the entire exercise may be postponed until March or April of the next year.