LG polls: Date for submission of party tickets extended till Sept 30

Intending contenders can now submit their certificates for party ticket by September 30

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has extended the last date for submitting certificates for party tickets for the first phase of upcoming local government (LG) polls in Sindh and Punjab, to September 30.

Candidates contesting the LG polls in districts, elections for which will be held in the first phase, were earlier required to submit certificates by September 11; however, according to a fresh notification issued by the electoral body on Tuesday, intending contenders have been allowed till the end of the current month.

Read: Pre-poll rhetoric: Sindh to seek Rangers’ help for LG elections

Last month, the ECP notified the schedule for the first phase of the long-delayed LG polls in Punjab and Sindh. In the first phase, polling will be held in 12 districts of Punjab and eight of Sindh on October 31.

The Punjab districts include Lahore, Chakwal, Lodhran, Vehari, Okara, Pakpattan, Bahwalnagar, Faisalabad, Bhakar, Kasur, Nankana Sahib and Gujrat. Polling will also be held in Sindh’s Khairpur, Sukkur, Ghotki, Larkana, Shikarpur, Qamaber Shahdadkot, Jacobabad and Kashmore Kandhkot districts.

Returning officers (ROs) have been issuing nomination forms to the contestants since the start of the current month. While contestants are required to submit certificates from authorised office bearers for a party ticket, those who want to independently contest the elections are not required to submit any such certificate, an ECP official told The Express Tribune.

Read: LG elections: Poll officials notified for Rawalpindi district

Further, the ROs will check the application forms of the contestants, who will be allowed to file appeals in case of any objection against the ROs’ decision in special pre-poll tribunals, the official said. He added that the tribunal judges will have to decide all such appeals by the end of September, during which time, contestants will be allowed to submit their party affiliation certificate.

The last date for submission of certificates for party tickets was extended on the request of political parties and contesting candidates, the official claimed.