The country which came into being after much bloodshed and suffering on a August day along with India in 1947 has not been a place where democracy has had a hale and hearty existence. Military coups have played spoil sport though elections had never been dispensed with.

The need to redraw constituencies based on recent census reports threatens to be a spoke in the wheel to hold elections in Pakistan. The delay could affect the political scenario. The political landscape of the country is blurred since the arrest and incarceration of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. As often in the past, the army is in the driver's seat in the country.

The Constitution demands that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. There is a timeline of the Election Commission for redrawing of constituencies; the contradiction in between raises concern about a constitutional crisis.

The government and the judiciary need to carefully navigate the situation in the coming weeks for holding an election in keeping with the country's constitution. With far reaching implications for the country's stability and governance, there is no room for haste in deciding the issue.

It is a complex matter as both the options have their pros and cons. Accurate representation of voters cannot be dispensed with to adhere to constitutional timeline; in a democracy delaying elections is never an option looked forward to.

It is no easy task to bring out a path which may not have been travelled yet to get out out of the present dilemma. Political instability and constitutional impropriety can infringe into the country's system in the event of choosing an unsuitable route which may lead the democratic system into trouble.

It would nix the electoral process and is unlikely to do any good to the constitution. Such a situation would pose a question mark at the existence of a caretaker government which came into being to ensure electoral fairness and stability in Pakistan. Indeed the situation in Pakistan at the moment is one of multifaceted problems. the tussle over the imprisonment of PTI supremo Imran Khan is only one of them.

The resolution of the legal situation whether he will be released and able to participate in the elections will have its impact on public perception of the state and its institutions. Indeed it would be a commentary on the fairness of the electoral process though going by a rising tide of opinion in Pakistan Khan's time has come and gone.

American pressure to get the former Prime Minister behind the bars or beyond it cannot be ruled out. But such opinion has the risk of being influenced by the shrill anti-American rhetoric which sounded all over Pakistan during Khan's prime ministerial tenure.

One must not lose sight of the fact that release of Khan or any political leader to participate in elections happens to be an internal matter of Pakistan. The extent to which international pressure can be applied to on what is essentially a domestic matter, is uncertain.

It is fraught with risks too. Given the geo-political position of Pakistan, no nation near or far from Pakistan can afford to singe its fingers by words or deeds which can be interpreted as infiltrating unmarked boundaries of sovereignty of Pakistan. (IPA Service)