Raised Issue with Election Commission of Pakistan’s List of Preliminary Delimitations
ISLAMABAD: The monitoring group Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Saturday raised an issue with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) list of preliminary delimitations issued this week, saying that over one-fifth of the constituencies exceeded the 10 per cent population variation.
ECP Publishes List of Delimitations based on 2023 Digital Census
The ECP had published the list on Wednesday, rearranging electoral districts across the country in light of the 2023 digital census, clubbing dozens of districts to rationalise the population of constituencies, as well as reshuffling the number of national and provincial assembly seats allocated to various districts.
Significant Step Towards General Elections
The ECP decision was termed as a significant step towards the conduct of general elections, likely to be held in the first month of the next year.
Delimitation of Constituencies Follows Amendments to Elections Act
The delimitation of constituencies follows recent amendments to the Elections Act, 2017, including the insertion of a new proviso to Section 20(3), which now does not require the ECP to “strictly adhere” to the existing district boundaries if doing so causes the variance in the population of constituencies of an assembly to surpass 10pc, to ensure fairer elections.
Fafen Highlights Population Variation Among Constituencies
According to Fafen, the difference among constituency populations can be calculated and pointed out by comparing a constituency’s population with the average population per seat of an assembly or quota per seat.
Quota Calculation and Fafen’s Urgency for Equal Number of Residents in Each Constituency
Fafen said the quota is calculated by dividing a province’s population, as determined by the last officially published census, by the number of seats of that province in the national or provincial assemblies, as provided in the Constitution.
Fafen had urged the electoral watchdog last month to strictly ensure each constituency had roughly the same number of residents.
Fafen’s Concerns about Population Variation in Constituencies
In a press release issued today, Fafen said as many as 180 constituencies of the National and provincial assemblies did not meet the legal preferability of a 10pc variation in the population, thus undermining the “principle of equal suffrage” that was otherwise upheld by Parliament through the latest amendments in the Elections Act.
Analysis of Delimitation Report and Draft Constituency Lists
“An analysis of the preliminary report of delimitation 2023 and draft lists of constituencies reflects that the parliamentary emphasis on minimising the population variation was not extensively used to ensure the equality of votes in constituencies of an assembly,” the press release reads.
Fafen’s Recommendations
It urged the ECP to enhance the voter-friendliness of the process of filing representations on the draft constituencies and consider allowing their submission at its district, regional, and provincial offices. It added that hearings on these representations could also be arranged at the provincial level.
ECP’s Timeline for Objections and Representations
According to the ECP, the publication of the preliminary constituencies will continue for 30 days from September 27 to October 26. It had said objections (representations) to the preliminary constituencies could be made by the voters of the concerned constituency.
Conclusion
The delimitation process and the issue of population variation in constituencies continue to be of concern in Pakistan. Fafen’s monitoring and recommendations aim to ensure fair and equal representation in the upcoming general elections.
