By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir in The News, Dec 14, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce the schedule for the general elections on Sunday, December 17.
The general election will be held on February 8, next year. Nomination papers will be received on the next day of the announcement of the schedule.
Sources in the ECP told The News on Wednesday the commission had decided to give 54 days for the whole process, which would culminate on February 8, with polling for the National and provincial assemblies.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the whole administration in federal and provincial governments would be bound to assist the commission for conducting the polls.
The Constitution provides under “Executive authorities to assist Commission, etc.” Article 220 of the Constitution reads: “It shall be the duty of all executive authorities in the Federation and in the provinces to assist the Commissioner and the Election Commission in discharge of his or their functions.”
The commission has geared up its preparations for the elections. The chief election commissioner (CEC), whose engagements have been increased on several counts, has set up a hotline in his office to maintain contact with all offices of the commission. Training for the district returning officers and returning officers started on Wednesday, and it would continue till December 16 (Saturday). Training sessions for the officers have been organised by the commission with the assistance of authorities concerned, sources said.
The officers will be imparted the best possible training so that they could perform their duties in a satisfactory manner. They would be also briefed about the most sophisticated communication system that has been put in place to undertake the election duties. Sources pointed out that 40 training sittings have been scheduled for imparting all-round training to the officers.
The commission is providing training to 142 district returning officers and 859 returning officers. In the meanwhile, the commission sources said the ECP was fully prepared to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country and no doubt should be left on holding of polls according to the announced date.
The ECP also imposed a ban on transfers and postings of deputy commissioners throughout the country. The Establishment Division has been informed about it, the sources added.
Meanwhile, the ECP has drawn the attention of the members of parliament and provincial assemblies, Sindh and Balochistan to submit to the ECP by 31st December, 2023, yearly statements of assets and liabilities including their spouse and dependent children as on the preceding thirtieth day of June on Form-B for the financial years 2022-2023 being a mandatory requirement under Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017.
A statement issued by the Media Coordination and Outreach Wing of the ECP, the prescribed Form-B along with instructions/guidelines prepared in this regard can be obtained free of cost from the ECP Secretariat, Islamabad, offices of provincial election commissioners of respective province, Senate Secretariat, National Assembly Secretariat and secretariats of concerned provincial assemblies. Moreover, Form-B can also be downloaded from the ECP’s Website i.e. www.ecp.gov.pk.
It may be pointed out that presently, only the Senate of Pakistan is in existence while the National Assembly and four provincial legislatures will come into being after the February 8 general elections.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1138078-ecp-to-announce-polls-schedule-on-sunday
