-Elections in Punjab to be held on April 30
-Date finalised after ECP and President reached consensus
-Candidates asked to file nominations papers from March 12 to 14
-PTI welcomes the schedule while contrasting imposition of Section 144 in Lahore as a ‘joke with democracy’
-KP Governor to meet ECP next week for final consultation on elections date
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued the schedule for the upcoming elections in Punjab as well as by-polls on six vacant seats of the National Assembly.
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies should be held within the stipulated period of 90 days. It also held that President Dr Arif Alvi and the KP governor would fix dates for Punjab and KP assemblies, respectively, in consultation with the ECP. On Friday, the ECP wrote separate letters to the president and the KP governor. In the letter to Alvi, the electoral watchdog proposed dates between April 30 and May 7 for the elections. Alvi later the same day announced that elections in Punjab will be held on April 30.
According to the election schedule released today, the public notice by the returning officer (RO) will be issued on March 11, with 12-14 being the dates for filing the nomination papers.
The names of the nominated candidates will be published on March 15 while the last date for RO’s scrutiny of the nomination papers will be March 22.
The ECP notification said March 27 will be the last date for filing appeals against the RO’s decisions, with April 3 as the last date for deciding appeals by the Appellate Tribunal.
The notification added that the revised list of candidates will be published on April 4, while April 5 will be the last for withdrawal of candidature and publishing the revised candidate list. Lastly, election symbols will be allotted to the contesting candidates on April 6 with polling day as April 30.
The notification said the schedule will also be applicable for reserved seats for women and minorities, with March 14 as the last date for filing a separate priority list for the reserved seats.
PTI Secretary General Asad Umar welcomed the schedule release. However, he contrasted the schedule announcement with the imposition of Section 144 in Punjab and said it amounted to a “joke with democracy”.
The ECP also released the same schedules for by-polls on six National Assembly seats: NA-22 (Mardan-III), NA-24 (Charsadda-II), NA-31 (Peshawar-V), NA-108 (Faisalabad-VIII), NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-11) and NA-239 (Karachi-I).
The ECP had de-notified former prime minister Imran on February 24 from the six seats that he won last year during by-elections.
Separately, an ECP delegation met KP Governor Ghulam Ali to discuss the provincial election date. The governor told the electoral body’s team that he would meet the commission next week in Islamabad for a final consultation regarding the poll date.
The ECP said its team briefed the governor that he was constitutionally and legally bound to give the date for the polls so they could be held within 90 days or less.
ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan clarified to the governor that the team was only meeting him for the election date.
He added that as far as arrangements and logistics for the polls were concerned, the commission was in touch with the caretaker provincial government and federal law enforcement agencies and would soon hold a meeting with them to give a final shape to the relevant issues and aspects.
