Pakistan announces February 8 date for delayed elections

Pakistan will hold their delayed national elections on February 8, 2024, the electoral commission said Thursday.

The announcement was made following a meeting between President Arif Alvi and members of the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP).

"It was unanimously decided that the election will be held on Thursday, February 8," the ECP said in a statement.

A caretaker government has been in place since parliament was dissolved on August 9.

Polls were supposed to have taken place within 90 days of parliament's dissolution but according to the ECP more time was required to redraw constituency boundaries after the latest census.

The announcement came after the Supreme Court made an order on Thursday for the ECP and president Alvi to agree a date before the next court hearing on Friday, after several challenges were submitted over the delay.

Political turbulence in Pakistan

Pakistan has been struggling with months of political turbulence after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from power and convicted of graft charges.

Despite the Islamabad High Court suspending Khan’s three-year sentence, he has remained in jail as he awaits trial for leaking state secrets having been accused of making public the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

Since Khan was ousted, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party has been subject to vigorous actions to suppress the party.

Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, returned in October to Pakistan from a self-imposed exile to lead the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) at the polls.

Sharif himself was part way through a jail sentence after being convicted for graft, before leaving Pakistan for the United Kingdom seeking medical treatment. He has been granted bail since his return to Pakistan.

km/rt (dpa, AFP, Reuters)