ECP to announce election schedules for Sindh on Nov 1, Punjab & Balochistan on Nov 5

ECP additional secretary Sher Afghan says they have sought proposals on appointment of DROs, ROs, AROs from provinces.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said that they will announce the election schedules for local body elections in Sindh on November 1 and for Punjab and Balochistan on November 5, Express News reported.

The Additional Secretary Election Commission Sher Afghan told the media after an internal ECP meeting that time was quite short for the elections and that they have shortened the days for each phase of the elections accordingly.

ECP demands documents from provincial govts

Afghan added that to kick start the process they had sought some essential documents from the provincial governments that must be provided during the meeting with chief secretaries on October 29.

The documents sought include complete laws by each province for the local body elections, along with the notified rules for conduct of elections. Afghan added that the ECP also needed the final delimitation notifications.

The ECP additional secretary added that it was crucial appointment of District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) be completed before the schedule is announced since soon after the schedule is public, the process of disbursing forms for candidates starts immediately and the DROs and ROs are key in that.

Afghan added that they had sought the provincial governments’ proposals for appointing DROs RO, and ARO at the October 29 meeting for swift appointing.

On the subject of delimitation and whether the elections will be conducted per the 1998 census, Afghan said that they will conduct elections on given delimitation.

Asked whether the polling stations will be the same as the those for the May elections, Afghan said that the number of polling stations will be more than that in general elections while approximately 500 million ballot papers will be used.

He added that further issues, including those pertaining to funds will be discussed in the ECP meeting on October 29 where the Finance secretary too has been invited.