First phase of LG polls begins in Islamabad

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s long march may affect election schedule

RAWALPINDI:

With the collection of nomination papers, the first phase of local body elections has commenced in 101 union councils in Islamabad.

As many as 51 candidates received nomination papers for various union councils on Thursday. If Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s ongoing long march is prolonged, it may affect the election schedule.

Meanwhile, the appointment of returning officers has been completed and a notification has also been issued in this regard. Each returning officer has been given five union councils.

The formal commencement of submission of nomination papers is going to start on Monday, November 7. The nomination papers will be received during office hours for five days starting from November 7 till November 11 while a preliminary list of candidates will be displayed on November 14.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out from November 15 to November 18 and appeals against acceptance and rejection of the nomination papers can be filed from November 21 to November 23. The appeals will be decided by November 30.

The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers will be November 30, while election symbols will be allotted on December 1. Polling will be held on December 24 while the final results will be announced on December 29.

A total of 984,877 voters will cast their votes for the elections of chairman, vice chairman, councillors and lady councillors in 101 union councils in the federal capital including 518,193 male and 466,284 female voters.

All the major political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) have started a rigorous election campaign.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2022.