General Asim Munir announces that the elections are scheduled to take place on February 8.

• The Army chief's comments were made during a meeting with Pakistani businessmen.
• The assurance to overseas Pakistanis by the COAS preceded the Supreme Court's verdict.
• General Asim Munir stated that if delayed, the elections would not extend beyond the Senate polls.

During a meeting with the Pakistani-American business community in the United States last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir provided assurance that elections "will be held on February 8." This statement from the army chief occurred shortly before the Supreme Court issued its verdict on the conduct of polls on February 8 last Friday.

The matter was raised during General Asim Munir's interaction with overseas Pakistanis at a dinner reception hosted by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, where a businessman posed the question to the army chief.

Tanveer Ahmed, a Pakistani businessman based in Texas who participated in the meeting, quoted the army chief as stating, "As far as I know, general elections will be held on the 8th of February." General Asim Munir, while referring to the ongoing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), mentioned that if elections face delays due to legal proceedings, it would not go beyond the timeframe of the upcoming Senate elections, likely to be held in March 2024.

On December 13, the LHC had suspended the electoral body's notification to requisition returning officers (ROs) from the bureaucracy, raising doubts about the timely conduct of elections. However, the Supreme Court intervened by suspending the high court's verdict and instructing the commission to proceed as planned.