ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interest (CCI) of Pakistan is scheduled to hold a crucial meeting on August 5 to grant approval for the country’s 2023 digital census conducted earlier this year, as reported by a local newspaper.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given the green light for the Ministry of Planning and Development’s proposal to convene the CCI meeting, seeking constitutional approval for the first-ever digital Population and Housing Census carried out in 2023. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has successfully conducted the census and compiled the results, which will now be submitted to the CCI for the final stamp of approval.
However, approving the census results may have significant ramifications, including a delay of three to four months in the upcoming elections. The possibility of convening the CCI meeting on August 2 was discussed earlier but was not realized.
Pakistan to Elections Based on Fresh Census
PM Shehbaz Sharif had earlier declared that the next elections would be based on fresh population census data. The CCI has three possible courses of action – it may choose to invalidate the results due to identified flaws, approve the census results with implications for election postponement due to the delimitation exercise, or form a committee to address disputes and find an amicable solution acceptable to all stakeholders.
The matter of securing constitutional amendments, which necessitates a two-thirds majority, also arises as part of the approval process. If there is any plan to delay the general elections at any level, approval for the digital census results may be pursued, leading to a requirement of four to six months for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to undertake the delimitation exercise.
The latest census results indicate that the country’s population is slightly under 250 million but has surpassed 240 million. The PBS conducted a post-enumeration survey in selected blocks of 48 districts to verify the accuracy of the digital population census results.
