Initial delimitation may be ready later this month: ECP.

ISLAMABAD -- In a significant step towards upcoming general elections, the preliminary delimitation of constituencies for the polls is expected to be completed this month, it has emerged.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reviewed progress of the ongoing delimitation exercise on Monday and expressed satisfaction over its pace.

The commission directed the delimitation committees to complete the task by Sept 26 positively, so that preliminary delimitation lists could be published the next day.

Under the original delimitation schedule issued by the ECP on Aug 17 - ten days after the notification of census results - the initial delimitation exercise was to be completed on Oct 7 and preliminary proposals for delimitation along with report were to be published on Oct 9.

ECP puts new monitoring system in place to 'avoid repeat' of 2018 RTS fiasco

On Sept 1, the ECP had announced squeezing timelines of the delimitation exercise by 14 days to complete the process on Nov 30, instead of the scheduled Dec 14.

Sources in the ECP, which had earlier been hinting at the possibility of general polls somewhere in the middle of February, after the development said it could pave the way for elections in the last week of January.

Monitoring system

The ECP put in place a new monitoring control system to be used in the next polls that, it hopes, will improve on how data is collected and compiled.

Officials pointed out that there was a massive difference between how things stood in 2013 and 2018, and said that a lesson had been learnt from what had happened with the Result Transmission System (RTS) in 2018. The media was informed that monitoring officers will have the powers to impose fine and disqualify candidates on violations.

During a briefing at the newly established...