Pakistan will hold parliamentary elections at the end of January, delaying a vote due in November

Pakistan's Election Commission announced the next Parliamentary elections will take place in late January. The vote was delayed due to the need to redraw constituencies to reflect the recent census

Pakistan’s election oversight body announced on Thursday that it will hold the next Parliamentary elections in the last week of January, delaying the vote which was to be held in November under the Constitution.

However, the announcement by the Election Commission of Pakistan has ended uncertainty about the fate of the vote. Earlier, some political parties had feared that the election could be delayed for an indefinite period.

Pakistan has been in deepening political turmoil since April 2022, when then-Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office through a parliamentary vote of no confidence.

Mr. Khan was arrested in early August on corruption charges and imprisoned after a court convicted and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Pakistan's electoral map is being redrawn to reflect the latest census. In a brief statement, the election commission said a final list of constituencies would be published on November 30.

The Election Commission will announce the exact date of the vote later.

Also in August, Pakistan's President Arif Alvi on the advice of former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolved Parliament at the completion of its five-year term, normally the trigger to start the process of holding elections within 90 days. The vote was to take place in October or November but it was delayed after the election commission said it needed more time to redraw constituencies to reflect the recent census.