The federal government has stated that the general elections 2023 may be delayed. The statement came from Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah who believed that elections are not possible immediately. Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif gave similar comments regarding general elections.
While talking to a morning show on a private news channel, Rana Sanaullah clearly stated that the year 2023 is not the time for elections. Regarding the caretaker setup, he said that the caretaker prime minister might hold the office for more than three months.
According to Rana Sanaullah, the general elections of 2023 are not possible under the census of 2017. He added that the caretaker setup will carry a delimitation process (A system of dividing the country’s total area into smaller units to conduct smooth & efficient elections) after the census was notified. The interior minister briefed that the elections would take place after the delimitation process which takes at least 120 days for completion.
Rana Sanaullah has hinted that the name of caretaker prime minister would be unveiled in the next 24 hours.
Dissolution of Assemblies
Note that the federal government announced the dissolution of the assemblies on August 09, 2023. As per the law, the elections should be held within 90 days after the assemblies end their tenure.
PPP and PML-N are on opposite fronts regarding holding elections based on current census. PM Shehbaz Sharif said that elections would take place as per the latest census but PPP opposed the decision.
Meanwhile, ECP is another factor in delaying the general elections 2023 as the commission wants a timeframe of four to six months for holding the elections.
