ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb’s reaffirm that the assemblies will be dissolved before their term ends leaves little doubt that a caretaker set-up will be in place for at least 90 days.

In an interview on TV the Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said elections will be held as per the digital census conducted earlier this year.

“We have to hold the elections on the basis of the new census… When a census has been conducted, the [polls] should be held on its basis unless there is an obstacle that cannot be overcome. But I don’t see [any such hurdle],” the PM said.

As soon as the results are consolidated, they will be presented before a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), which is a legal requirement, the PM said while referring to the body that includes all four provincial chief ministers as members.

When asked about whether holding elections on new census, the results of which have yet to be compiled, will delay elections or not, PM Shehbaz said that holding elections on time was the ECP’s job.

The ECP has already expressed its inability to hold general polls on the basis of the latest census results. After the results are approved by the government, the ECP will carry out a fresh delimitation of constituencies, based on the updated population count.

In June, a senior ECP official that as per the Constitution, seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each province and federal territory based on the population according to the last published census.

Therefore, a constitutional amendment would be required if the number of seats was altered following the publication of census results, which was technically impossible after the acceptance of PTI lawmakers’ resignations, he said.

On Monday, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also said polls will be delayed by at least 90 days if held under the fresh census.