Scrutiny of candidates: ECP asks departments to appoint focal persons

ECP also set up a ‘facilitation cell’ which will send names of candidates who have filed their nomination papers

ISLAMABAD:

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has written a letter to different departments asking them to appoint focal persons who on their behalf will coordinate with returning officers (ROs) for scrutiny of nomination papers for Senate elections scheduled on March 5.

The ECP has written to the heads of National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), State Bank of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and secretaries ministries of interior, petroleum, finance, water and power and establishment division and asked them to appoint a senior official in their organisation as focal person for coordination with the commission.

The ECP has also set up a ‘facilitation cell’ at its headquarters, which will send names of the candidates who have filed their nomination papers with the commission. The process of filing applications to contest polls has completed on Friday.

NADRA has been asked to verify the CNIC of every candidate and provide within 12 hours details of their family members. Other departments have been asked to check from their record the credentials of the contestants and report back to the facilitation cell within 24 hours once the request is sent to them.

Under the law, defaulters of bank loans, utility bills and convicted persons do not qualify to contest polls.

The facilitation cell will forward the same to the ROs, who will be conducting scrutiny of the candidates on February 19 and 20. The ECP has revised the schedule of polls and advanced it for two days from March 3 to March 5. The dates of scrutiny of candidates scheduled for February 16 and 17 were also advanced accordingly.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2015.