By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan said on Friday night that the country would hold general elections on Feb. 8, hours after the Supreme Court intervened and ordered it to issue the schedule, overturning a lower court’s ruling that had blocked the appointment of election officials.
The announcement ended the prevailing uncertainty and legal wrangling over the timing and conduct of the elections, which are expected to be a close contest between the parties of former prime minister Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, mainly in the country’s heartland of Punjab.
The election commission later issued the election program, which sets the dates for filing nomination papers, scrutiny of candidates, appeals, withdrawal of nominations, and allotment of symbols.
“[ECP] hereby calls upon the election of the National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan to elect their representatives from each of the constituencies to the General Seats,” said a notification from the ECP, which also provided dates for various election activities:
According to the schedule, candidates can submit their nomination papers from Dec. 20 to 22, and the list of nominated candidates will be published on Dec. 23. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place from Dec. 24 to 30, and the appeals against the decisions of the returning officers can be filed by Jan. 3.
The appellate tribunal will decide the appeals by Jan. 10, and the revised list of candidates will be released on Jan. 11. The candidates can withdraw their nominations by Jan. 12, and the election symbols will be allotted to the political parties on Jan. 13.
The commission said the election program would also apply to the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies, and the last date for submitting the priority lists for these seats was Dec. 22.
The ECP formally launched the election management system, which would help in the preparation of electoral rolls, the allocation of polling stations, and the transmission of results, by the Election Act of 2017.
The commission also said it would resume the training of the returning officers and the district returning officers from Dec. 17 to 19, after the Supreme Court lifted the stay order issued by the Lahore High Court on Thursday.
The Lahore court had ruled that the commission could not appoint the returning officers and the district returning officers from the bureaucracy, as it violated the principle of independence of the election commission.
The top court later stopped the Lahore High Court from further hearings on the plea, saying it had passed the judgment in ‘undue haste’.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
