Pakistan to hold delayed elections on February 8

Pakistan will hold delayed national elections on February 8 next year, the election commission said, as the country grapples with overlapping political, economic and security crises, AFP  reported.

“It was unanimously decided that the election will be held on Thursday, February 8,” the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) said in a statement, after its members met with President Arif Alvi.

The president’s office confirmed the date in a statement.]

A caretaker government has been running the country since parliament was dissolved on Aug. 9.

Polls were supposed to have taken place within 90 days of parliament’s dissolution but the ECP said it needed time to redraw constituency boundaries following the latest census.

The announcement comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the commission and the president to agree a date before the next hearing on Friday, in response to several challenges about the delay.