ECP sets Mar 19 for by-polls on 31 vacant NA seats

Suspends all LG officials in Punjab and K-P for transparent conduct of elections

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that by-elections on 31 vacant seats of the National Assembly would be held on March 19, as the polls supervisory body held consultations regarding the dates for holding elections of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The ECP released the schedule for the by-elections on 31 NA seats. According to it, nomination papers would be submitted from Feb 10 to 14, which would be scrutinised on Feb 18.

The candidates would be able to withdraw the nomination papers till March 1. After that, the election symbols would be allotted to the candidates on March 2. The ECP said that the balloting in the vacant constituencies would be held on March 19.

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired an important meeting of the ECP for consultation on the dates for the election of the provincial assemblies and other matters. The meeting was attended by ECP members, secretary and other senior officers.

During the meeting, the ECP secretary gave a briefing on the arrangements made so far for the elections of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and K-P and 86 general seats of the National Assembly, according to a statement.

The secretary informed the meeting that a letter had been written to the registrars of the high courts of Punjab and K-P for the provision of services of the judicial officers to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections of the two provincial assemblies.

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The ECP suspended all local government officials in Punjab and K-P.

“Municipal officials were suspended for the transparent conduct of national and provincial assembly elections,” the statement added.

According to sources, the ECP continued its consultations on conducting the provincial assembly elections. They added that the ECP’s Law Wing was deliberating on the letters written by K-P governor and the Punjab governor’s principal secretary.

The sources said that both the governors had pointed out the threat of terrorism and economic problems in the letters. They added that after reviewing the letters, the Law Wing would submit its report to the ECP.

In the meeting on Friday, it was decided that the chief secretaries and inspectors general of police of Punjab and K-P would brief the ECP on the law and order situation and other matters related to provincial assembly elections and by-polls on the National Assembly seats on Feb 7.

The ECP also decided that a consultative meeting with political parties would be held on Feb 9 on the election code of conduct. In the meeting, feedback regarding a draft code of conduct would be taken from the political parties, the statement added.