A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) delegation visited the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), pleading with the body to uphold the completion of the election process within the 90-day window allowed by the constitution.
The JI delegation stressed during meetings with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and other senior commission officials that the election calendar announcement should have coincided with the delimitation schedule that the commission had just issued.
The delegation expressed their opinion that the consultation procedure ought to have started sooner to avoid the early dissolution of the national and provincial parliament. They stressed the importance of timely censuses and Council of Common Interest (CCI) meetings by previous governments, which would have allowed the ECP to complete constituency processes before assembly mandates ended.
The JI delegation expressed concern at the dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and emphasized the impossibility of holding elections in their place. They emphasized the need to maintain public representation for the people of Pakistan and suggested taking swift action against individuals who disobeyed the code of conduct. They contended that this strategy would foil any efforts by other groups to rig the polls.
The delegation pushed for the registration of eligible voters and the erasure of deceased people from voter lists, emphasizing the necessity of keeping electoral registers up-to-date. Additionally, they suggested making all election-related forms, whether for local body elections or federal elections, available in Urdu. They also suggested that political parties impose a set amount of election spending.
A delegation from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), led by Dr. Farooq Sattar, also stressed the importance of constituency delimitation being completed on schedule and in accordance with constitutional requirements. The MQM group spoke with the Chief Election Commissioner on ways to stop pre-election rigging during their visit to the Election Commission office in Islamabad. The effective Results Transmission System (RTS) was also praised.