Polls schedule likely in Dec first week

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is expected to announce the schedule for general elections in first week of December.

A senior official, when contacted on telephone, said that after the publication of final list of delimitation of constituencies on November 30, the ECP will meet to formally thrash out the polls schedule.

It is pertinent that after mutual consultations between the President and the Election Commission, February 8 as the election date has already been announced a few days back, putting an end to speculations about the fate of the nation-wide electoral exercise.

Presently, the ECP is conducting hearing of representations in relation to the preliminary report of the delimitation, concerning the National Assembly and provincial assemblies’ constituencies as per the legal requirement.

The Elections Act, 2017 says, “The Commission shall invite representations in respect of the preliminary report within a period of thirty days from the date of publication. A voter in a constituency may, within the period specified in sub-section (2), make a representation to the Commission in respect of the delimitation of that constituency proposed in the preliminary report”.

The Commission shall, after hearing and considering the representations, if any, received by it, make such amendments, alterations or modifications in the preliminary list of constituencies published under sub-section (1) as it thinks fit or necessary, and shall, within a period of thirty days from the last date fixed for making representation under sub-section (2), publish in the official Gazette and on its website, the final report and list of constituencies showing the areas included in each constituency.

According to the act, the election programme shall stipulate— (a) the last date for making nominations, which shall be the sixth day after the date of publication of the notification or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (b) the last date for publication of names of the nominated candidates, which shall be day following the last date of filing of nomination papers; (c) the last date for the scrutiny of nominations, which shall be the eighth day immediately following the last date for making nominations or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (d) the last date for filing of appeals against acceptance or rejection of nominations, which shall be the fourth day following the last date for the scrutiny of nominations or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (e) the last date for decision of appeals, which shall be the seventh day following the last date for filing of appeals or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (f) the last date for publication of the revised list of candidates, which shall be the day following the last date for decision of appeals; (g) the last date for the withdrawal of candidature, which shall be the day following the last date of publication of revised list of candidates or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (h) the date for allocation of symbols to contesting candidates and publication of list of contesting candidates, which shall be the day following the last date for withdrawal of candidature or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; and (i) the date or dates on which a poll shall, if necessary, be taken, which or the first of which shall be a date not earlier than the twenty-eighth day after the publication of the revised list of candidates.