With the stage set for the upcoming general elections, the 21 Returning Officers and 42 Assistant Returning Officers of the seven national and 14 provincial assembly seats of the Rawalpindi district will start distribution of nomination papers to the candidates from Tuesday [today].
The development has come just days after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took a significant step by unveiling the schedule for the upcoming general elections, marking February 8, 2024, as the date for the nationwide electoral process. The unveiling of the election schedule coincided with a recent directive from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, mandating the electoral watchdog to announce the schedule promptly.
The cost of the nomination papers form is Rs100 while each candidate vying for the MPA and MNA seats will have to submit the respective election deposit of Rs20,000 and Rs30,000. This fee will be refunded without deduction in case of withdrawal of nomination papers.
Posters detailing constituencies have been pasted outside the offices of the ROs and their security has been tightened. Every RO has been provided with official police guards and vehicles and the top electoral body has provided a large quantity of nomination papers to the ROs. The candidate’s name, constituency and computerised national identity card number will be entered for issuing each nomination form. The entire process of receiving and submission of nomination forms will be computerised.
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From Tuesday [today], the candidates of all parties as well as those independently contesting elections will start receiving nomination papers from their designated ROs whereas the ROs will start collecting the nomination papers from Wednesday [tomorrow].
With the start of issuance of the nomination papers, the election activities will begin across the district from today [Tuesday]. The nomination papers will be collected on three days, including Wednesday, Thursday and Friday [December 20, 21 and 22].
For the convenience of the candidates, separate ROs have been appointed for the national and provincial assembly seats and the services of two AROs have also been kept at their disposal.
The election deposit will also be collected at the time of submission of nomination papers. In the case of depositing this fee in cash or the National Bank of Pakistan, the provision of a bank challan and receipt will be mandatory.
Rawalpindi DRO Hasan Waqar Cheema said the entire election process will be transparent and strict security will be ensured. “Transparent arrangements will be made for the satisfaction of all candidates,” he said and added that stringent measures have been taken in the district courts for receipt and submission of nomination papers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2023.
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