"Next election doesn't seem to be held before Feb 15," Former ECP Secretary Kanwar Dilshad
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00:00 Sir, tell me, how much time will it take?
00:02 The election commission officials will tell you, but you have been associated with this institution for so long.
00:06 So, if we are standing on a population of 24 crores, 24 crores and 15 lakhs, roughly,
00:11 24 crores, 14 lakhs, 90 thousand, in a population of 24 crores and 15 lakhs,
00:14 if you have to do a complete re-evaluation,
00:17 then how much time should be taken in this effort?
00:20 Mr. Wasim Adani, you see that there are 266 National Assembly seats.
00:28 Right.
00:28 And after that, there are 593 National Assembly seats.
00:33 So, there will be demarcation on 9th of August.
00:36 And as you have mentioned about the population,
00:38 there are 24.5 crores of population.
00:40 So, it will take approximately 4 to 6 months.
00:43 There is ground reality in this.
00:44 There is demarcation in this.
00:45 There are complaints of people.
00:47 There are objections.
00:48 All those will be submitted to the election commission in Pakistan.
00:52 They will listen, see, investigate,
00:55 then they will remove all the complaints.
00:57 Even after that, if people are encouraged,
01:00 the rich people of the Assembly,
01:02 they will go to the High Court.
01:04 The High Court will decide that it will take 4 to 6 months.
01:09 You are saying that it is not possible to do this.
01:11 At least, at least, you said 4 to 6 months,
01:13 I am on the minimum side,
01:14 so you are saying that at least,
01:15 it is not possible to complete this process before 4 months.
01:17 This will go till February.
01:20 Which is obvious, practically, it is something else.
01:23 Because we cannot start those 4 months from today.
01:26 Because today is 5th August,
01:27 the first is the Fidelity Institute,
01:28 Shomariyat will give the details of the blocks to the election commission.
01:31 After that, the time of the election commission will start.
01:33 Yes, what you said is correct.
01:36 I have heard what he said.
01:37 So, it will take approximately 4 to 6 months.
01:39 You can understand that this process of closing the movement
01:42 from February 15th to the 1st is difficult.
01:47 And after February 15th, the election commission will be encouraged to start the elections.
01:53 Because according to Article 51,
01:56 Section 5, it is mandatory to close the movement.
02:01 And this demarcation will be done throughout Pakistan,
02:04 not just one morning.
02:05 So, you think that it is impossible for the next election of Pakistan to happen before February 15th?
02:10 I cannot see that.
02:12 I am saying this practically,
02:14 that the election will be done before February 15th.
02:16 Okay, sir, tell me one more thing.
02:18 Now, the CCI has decided,
02:21 which we have seen,
02:22 that the work has been done,
02:24 the number of the deputies has been counted,
02:25 which we have seen,
02:26 now the numbers have come after the election commission of Pakistan.
02:28 Now, is it legally,
02:29 that the election commission of Pakistan is bound,
02:32 because the CCI has decided,
02:34 that the next election should be done on the new March 15th,
02:37 or is it the right of the election commission of Pakistan to decide?
02:40 Can it legally say that,
02:42 "No, sir, it will take a lot of time,
02:44 it will take more than 90 days,
02:46 so we will not do this,
02:47 and we will do the election on the old March 15th."
02:49 Is this decision to be made by the election commission of Pakistan,
02:52 or has it become bound?
02:54 According to the constitution,
02:56 the election commission of Pakistan,
02:58 has written in the Gazette notification,
03:00 that the Gazette notification of the last census,
03:02 will be closed on the next day.
03:04 This has become the election commission's legal restriction,
03:06 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:08 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:10 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:12 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:14 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:16 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:18 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification,
03:20 that the Gazette notification should be closed immediately after the Gazette notification.
03:22 This is the requirement of the constitution.
03:24 What will happen in the constitution?
03:26 On one hand, you are saying that the election commission of Pakistan,
03:28 has become bound to make sure,
03:30 that the elections will be held on the basis of the new regulations.
03:32 Okay, then you are also saying that it will take 6 months.
03:34 Then according to the constitution of Pakistan,
03:36 the election commission of Pakistan is bound to,
03:38 that after the house is elected,
03:40 the elections should be held within 90 days.
03:42 So, is it also bound to do the elections within 90 days?
03:44 And is it also bound to do it under the new census,
03:46 which cannot be done within 90 days?
03:48 So, what will the election commission do?
03:50 Look, look, the constitution has said that within 90 days.
03:52 The constitution has said that within 90 days.
03:54 This is an extraordinary matter,
03:56 of digital census.
03:58 If these were abnormal circumstances,
04:00 like the elections were held in 2018,
04:02 there was a lockdown in 2017,
04:04 there was a census in 2017,
04:06 so this is now extraordinary,
04:08 that the new digital census,
04:10 is being notified,
04:12 it is late.
04:14 The election commission of Pakistan
04:16 had to notify on 30th March,
04:18 on 30th March,
04:20 now from 30th March to 31st July,
04:22 it has passed,
04:24 and they are notifying on the first week of August.
04:26 So, in this respect,
04:28 this is a very unprecedented matter,
04:30 which the election commission of Pakistan
04:32 has to do in accordance with the constitution.
04:34 It is a matter of 90 days,
04:36 that is also fine,
04:38 but this is also a constitutional provision,
04:40 the matter is being done according to the constitution,
04:42 and the election commission is making
04:44 all the arrangements to do the provision.
04:46 This is a constitutional provision.
04:48 This is a constitutional provision,
04:50 and it is written in the constitution,
04:52 so what can be done?
04:54 Who will decide?
04:56 Both are constitutional,
04:58 but the constitution is not a part of it.
05:00 The elections are not being held in 90 days,
05:02 it is being extended to 120 days,
05:04 or 150 days, or 160 days,
05:06 so this is a part of the constitutional provision.
05:08 So, does it seem that the election commission
05:10 will say that someone will take this case to the court,
05:12 and the election commission of Pakistan
05:14 will say that I cannot do it in 90 days,
05:16 and then the supreme court will decide.
05:18 Does it seem like this?
05:20 No, no, no, I will tell you.
05:22 Chief Justice of Pakistan
05:24 gave a very beautiful remark,
05:26 that when we have to look at the constitution,
05:28 Madhuwak Chief Justice,
05:30 we have to look at the ground realities,
05:32 that the ground realities
05:34 are in accordance with the constitution,
05:36 so we have to extend the ground realities,
05:38 and the Supreme Court of Pakistan
05:40 has given a remark on Madhuwak Chief Justice.
05:42 The path has been taken by Madhuwak Chief Justice.
05:44 Okay, so you are saying that
05:46 this will happen while using that path.
05:48 And sir, please clarify one more thing,
05:50 it is being said that
05:52 if there is an increase in seats,
05:54 because the number of Pakistan has increased,
05:56 the population has increased,
05:58 so there will be an increase in seats.
06:00 For the increase in seats,
06:02 a constitutional amendment is necessary.
06:04 It cannot be that until the increase in seats
06:06 is made, your lower house will be in a mess.
06:08 So, is this the answer?
06:10 I am telling you correctly that
06:12 the seats should remain the same,
06:14 it cannot be that
06:16 the number of seats in a particular city
06:18 has decreased, and the number of seats in another city
06:20 has increased.
06:22 It cannot be that the seats will be increased
06:24 because there is no parliament.
06:26 Is that correct?
06:28 Mr. Kamar, are you with us?
06:30 Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.
06:32 Look, Mr. Wasim,
06:34 I would like to request you,
06:36 the most important thing is that
06:38 as far as the allocation of seats is concerned,
06:40 the constitution says that there should be
06:42 at least three seats, but that should be
06:44 removed because there is no
06:46 two-thirds majority.
06:48 There is no room for amendments in the constitution.
06:50 The constitution is being dissolved on 9th August.
06:52 Even if it was not dissolved,
06:54 they would not have had two-thirds majority.
06:56 But on the basis of population,
06:58 the allocation of seats will be made
07:00 by the Pakistan election.
07:02 So, sir, I am saying that
07:04 the number of seats will be reduced,
07:06 it is possible that the number of seats
07:08 will increase, but it is not possible
07:10 to increase the number of seats because
07:12 that requires a constitutional amendment,
07:14 which is just not possible now.
07:16 Is that correct?
07:18 Yes, that is correct.
07:20 It does not matter.
07:22 I will tell you what will happen.
07:24 In one ring, where the population
07:26 is 6 or 7 lakhs, a constitution is made.
07:28 Now it will be made on 8 to 10 lakhs.
07:30 For example, if the population of Pakistan
07:32 was 100 and now it has become 200,
07:34 then it will be done that, for example,
07:36 if the number of people in one ring
07:38 was 10 to 15 people,
07:40 then now it will increase to 15 to 20 people
07:42 on average.
07:44 Yes, absolutely.
07:46 Now it will be done on 8 to 10 lakhs.
07:48 (Discussion in Hindi)