ISLAMABAD: The federal government has finally decided to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to break the ongoing deadlock and finalise the fate of the constitutional amendment for fresh delimitation of constituencies in the country. A failure to pass the constitutional amendment by November 10 deadline set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) may lead to a delay in the next general elections. The decision has come at a time when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the main opposition party, has already refused to budge an inch on its stance, urging the government to take the matter to the CCI. “The Prime Minister’s Office has informed that the 33rd meeting of the CCI is scheduled to be held on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 1200 hours in the Cabinet Room, PM’s Office, Islamabad to discuss one point agenda i.e. ‘Census and Delimitation Issues’,” a notification issued by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination reads. Even though none of the parties want elections to be delayed, a prolonged deadlock on the issue risks a delay in the vote. ECP Director General Arshad Khan has said that the amendment should be done by November 10. However, he believes that the top electoral watchdog could still be on time if the government was able to do it within the next 10 days i.e. by Nov 18. According to Khan, the ECP requires four months to complete the process of delimitation and the elections can be held as per schedule if the provisional census report is provided on time. He, however, warned that it would be difficult to meet the election deadline once the assemblies completed their constitutional term. Published in Daily Times, November 10th 2017.