New schedule for LB polls in Sindh, Punjab announced by ECP

RAWALPINDI: The new election schedule for local body elections in Sindh and Punjab was announced at a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Express News reported on Tuesday.  

The meeting was chaired by chief election commissioner Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.

Polling will take place on January 18 in Sindh and January 30 in Punjab.

The final list of the candidates will be issued on December 26. Also, objections will be filed on January 14 and appeals between December 20 and 21.

Nomination papers will be verified between December 15 and 19 according to the new schedule.

Chief secretaries of all provinces, local government department chief secretaries, federal secretaries of various departments and Chairman National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Tariq Malik were present at the meeting.

The Printing Corporation of Pakistan requested ECP to change the date of the local body elections in Punjab to February 19 as it needed more time to print the ballot papers. This was rejected by the ECP.

During the meeting, the chief election commissioner stated that the ballot papers should be printed on time for the elections to take place on schedule.

Balochistan chief secretary also requested for the schedule to be changed stating that protesters had burnt nomination papers in some areas but this was rejected by the ECP as well.

Supreme Court approved new dates

On November 13, the Supreme Court had approved the new dates for local body elections as recommended by ECP. The decision was made during a hearing of a petition related to the issue.

The ECP had suggested new dates for elections in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in a letter written on November 12, which was later converted into a petition and admitted for hearing.