Islamabad: In a major setback to beleaguered Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, the Election Commission of Pakistan has expressed its inability to conduct general elections for the National Assembly within three months.

Two days back, Imran Khan has stunned the Opposition by recommending to conduct elections within three months. The Pakistan President has dissolved the National Assembly soon after it rejects the trust vote proceedings against Imran Khan. After dissolving the House, Imran Khan said that the election will be held to National Assembly in three months.

However, the poll panel has expressed its inability to hold elections within three months citing delimitation of the constituencies in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. Election Commission has also stated that conduct elections are impossible because it needs logistics.

Besides legal complication also haunts the Commission to conduct in three months. According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, a senior official of the Pakistan Election Commission said that “delimitation is a time-consuming exercise where the law provides for one month's time just to invite objections," the report said quoting the official”, he said.

The official said inviting bids and scrutinising financial and technical quotations would also require some time. About the election material, he said some two million stamp pads would be required for around 100,000 polling stations.

The ballot papers with watermark were to be used which were not available in the country and hence they would have to be imported, the official added.