ECP issues schedule: Election for KP Assembly seats in merged districts on July 2

PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday issued the schedule for the election of 16 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats for the first time in the merged districts.

The elections for provincial assembly seats will be held on July 2, said a notification. It said that the elections will be held at PK-100 Bajaur-I, PK-101 Bajaur-II, PK-102 Bajaur-III, PK-103 Mohmand-I, PK-104 Mohmand-II, PK-105 Khyber-I, PK-106 Khyber-II, PK-107 Khyber-III, PK-108 Kurram-I, PK-109 Kurram-II, PK-110 Orakzai, PK-111 North Waziristan-I, PK-112 North Waziristan-II, PK-113 South Waziristan-I, PK-114 South Waziristan-II, PK-115 Ex-Frontier regions.

As per the schedule, the candidates can file nomination papers with the returning officers (RO) from Thursday to Saturday. May 18 will be the last date for scrutiny of the nomination papers by the Returning Officer.

The last date for filing appeals against the ROs decisions on the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers is May 22. Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by May 29 and a revised list of candidates will be published on the same day. On May 30, election symbols for candidates will be allotted.

The ECP through another notification directed that no posting or transfers of any officers should be made in the tribal districts till the names of returning candidates are published.The ECP also directed that no government functionary or elected representative should announce any development scheme for constituencies where the elections are scheduled to take place.

On the other hand, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial election commissioner Pir Maqbool Ahmad had earlier announced that once the schedule was announced for the forthcoming provincial assembly elections in the erstwhile Fata, the parliamentarians, including prime minister and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, would be barred from addressing public meetings or announcing developmental schemes in the region.

Before the announcement of the schedule, the federal government, the especially prime minister announced mega projects and ministers frequently visited the tribal districts, as to get much support in the first-ever election for the 16 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly after the merger. The provincial election commissioner said that the ECP would deploy special mentoring teams which would ensure the election code of conducts for a fair and transparent election.