ECP issues Punjab polls schedule

ECP says candidates can submit nomination papers from March 12 to March 14; election symbols to be issued April 6

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued the schedule of polls in Punjab that are set to be held on April 30.

According to the ECP, the general elections of the Punjab Assembly will be held on April 30 and the returning officers will issue a public notice on March 11.

The electoral watchdog added that the candidates can submit nomination papers from March 12 to March 14, adding that the scrutiny of the papers will take place on March 22.

Moreover, the ECP will issue the election symbols to the candidates on April 6.

The electoral watchdog also stated that political parties must submit the priority list of reserved seats to the returning officers by March 14.

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The issuance of the polls schedule by the ECP comes after President Dr Arif Alvi announced that the elections in Punjab would be held on April 30 hours after the electoral watchdog proposed dates for the polls.

Through a letter to the president, the ECP suggested that he might choose a date between April 30 and May 7, 2023 -- right after Eid – saying that the commission would be ready to perform its constitutional and legal duties when the date of the polls was finalised.

The electoral watchdog swung into action just a couple of days after the apex court tried to settle the polls controversy and ordered the president and K-P governor to set the date for elections in the province after consulting with the ECP.