Final list of wards for LG polls on May 19: ECP

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Tuesday presided over a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and took a briefing on the review of electoral rolls.

Expressing satisfaction over the completion of the work of the election commission, the CEC issued directives to all provincial election commissioners to thoroughly monitor and oversee the review process.

Among others, the meeting was attended by the election commission members.

During the meeting, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja was briefed on a number of ongoing procedures and preparations for the local body elections across the country.

The CEC was also briefed on the delimitation schedule in light of the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that directed the government to hold the elections on the basis of the law introduced by the previous government which was an Act of parliament.

The ruling came as the government was seeking to hold elections under a proposed law being brought through an ordinance but fell short of approval in parliament.

During the meeting, the electoral watchdog decided that after completing various procedures, the final list will be published on May 19.

On March 25, the ECP had issued the schedule for carrying out delimitation of the 50 union councils – 27 in rural and 23 in urban areas – in Islamabad.

The ECP said it will ensure that local body elections are held in the federal capital Islamabad in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, it also approved the schedule for holding local body elections in all districts of Balochistan province on May 29, except Quetta and Lasbela.

The meeting was told that the election schedule in these districts will be given later after the completion of delimitation.

The election commission of Balochistan will issue a notification of the election schedule in a day or two, the meeting was told.

The ECP directed provincial election commissioners to ensure the holding of Punjab and Sindh elections.

Regarding the second phase of the local body polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the ECP said conducting transparent elections was its responsibility.