Bilal Ahmed 
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is leading a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to decide the fate of the 2023 census, with coalition partners having differing views on the matter.
The crucial CCI meeting is attended by all chief ministers and senior members of the federal cabinet. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has informed the government that all formalities related to the census have been completed, and the results are ready for CCI’s approval.
If the census results receive approval, elections are likely to be delayed by a couple of months as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would need more time to conduct the delimitation exercise based on the new data.
Dissolution of National Assembly
The ruling coalition has agreed to dissolve the National Assembly prematurely on August 9, giving the electoral body 90 days to conduct polls.
However, the main coalition partners, PPP and MQM-P, hold opposing views on the census. The PPP advocates holding elections based on the 2017 census and opposes any delay, while MQM-P stresses that elections based on the previous enumeration would not be acceptable.
PML-N, on the other hand, is willing to address concerns and is open to delaying the polls to ensure widespread acceptance of the election results.
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According to former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad, if the CCI approves the 2023 census, elections will be held in 2024, and the ECP would be legally obligated to conduct a fresh delimitation based on the new data.
