ECP meeting today to review preparations for 2018 general polls

Islamabad

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will review preparations on Thursday (today) to hold the 2018 general election in September next year in a fair and transparent manner.

The agenda of the meeting, ahead of the announcement of the budget 2017-2018, includes allocations, keeping in view the preparations, purchase of transparent ballot boxes, readying of the election material, new offices for district election commissioners, establishment of poll monitoring wing and functioning of election tribunals.

Among others, the meeting, to be chaired by the Election Commission Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, will be attended by the four provincial election commissioners and additional secretary (administration).

The forum will have a review on the training of presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, polling officers and developing the databank. Moreover, the meeting will take stock of the task of the provincial election commissioners with regards to survey of the polling stations, electoral rolls and the strategy to address the gap between male and female voters.

Decisions are expected regarding the performance of the civic and voter education committees. The meeting will also discuss acquisition of BVMs and EVMs for the general election and the meeting will be updated on the result management system.

Never before perhaps, the Election Commission showed an apparent urgency in making preparations for the next general election, which are expected to be held after around 16 months in September next year. Training of the Election Commission officers is already underway while polling staff is also bracing for this exercise. While listing of election officers, polling staff and acquisition of election material have been the topic of the Election Commission in the past with general election a few months away.

“There is nothing urgent. The Election Commission wants everything ready well before the nationwide exercise,” said a senior ECP official when The News contacted him on telephone.  Asked did the electoral body anticipate the possibility of early elections, he brushed aside this strongly and insisted that to decide about the elections was the mandate of the government while the Election Commission’s job was to organise and conduct the electoral exercise.

It is pertinent that not only the Election Commission holds meetings periodically on the 2018 general election but the ECP secretary keeps on chairing meetings to review preparations and assign new tasks and responsibilities to the officers concerned.

Meanwhile, arrangements have been completed to conduct the sixth bye-elections on vacant seats of village and neighborhood councils on May 17 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The districts, where the electoral exercise will be held, include Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail khan, Abbottabad, Batagram, Sawat, Buner, Shangla and Upper Dir.

Over 152000 voters will take part in voting: presiding officers have been handed over election material for their respective areas. In all, there are 132 polling stations, 362 polling booths for this purpose. Polling will begin at 8:00am and will continue till 5:00pm without break.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary to declare local holiday, where bye-election are being held with a view to facilitating voters. Returning officers will announce the results on May 19.