Filing of by-poll nomination papers commences

According to commission, the elections will be held on October 14 across country

LAHORE: The process of holding by-elections for four national and provincial assembly constituencies in Lahore has begun. Public notices have been displayed, inviting nomination papers from candidates starting Tuesday (today).

There are a total of 37 national and provincial assembly seats left vacant after General Elections 2018. Various candidates opted to contest polls on multiple seats and won. These candidates chose one seat for a position on the assemblies and vacated the others.



Of the total, four are in Lahore; two each of the national assembly and provincial assemblies. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has started the process of by-elections for the seats left vacant after MPAs and MNAs took oath from one of their winning constituencies.

The returning officers displayed public notices, inviting candidates to submit their nomination papers for the 37 constituencies. According to the notice, prospective candidates can submit their nomination papers starting Tuesday (today).

In Lahore, the central leadership of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vacated their seats after winning the elections. In the national assembly, NA-124 and NA-131 have been vacated by Hamza Shehbaz and Imran Khan, respectively. Both the vacant provincial assembly seats, PP-164 and PP-165, had been won by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.



Prime Minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan opted to retain his Mianwali seat, whereas Shehbaz kept his national assembly seat and vacated both the PA berths. On the other hand, Hamza Shehbaz vacated his national assembly seat and retained the provincial assembly seat from where he was elected as opposition leader in Punjab.

Out of the total vacant seats nationwide, 11 are of the national assembly and 26 are of the provincial assemblies.

According to the ECP schedule for by-elections, polls are to be held across the country on October 14. Furthermore, nomination papers can be filed between August 28 and August 30, whereas the ECP will be listing the names of candidates on August 31. The ECP will scrutinise the nomination papers on September 4 and appeals can be filed for acceptance or rejection of the papers on September 8. The Appellate Tribunal will decide over the appeals on September 13 and the ECP will issue the revised lists on September 14.

According to the ECP schedule, candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on September 15, while electoral symbols will be allotted to the contestants on the next day.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2018.