ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said the schedule for the local bodies’ election would be formally announced on November 5 as the LB elections in Sindh would be held on November 27‚ while Punjab and Balochistan had agreed to conduct the elections on December 7.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Islamabad Capital Territory have not given any date for the polls.The commission held a preparatory meeting here for a detailed discussion on holding the local bodies’ elections in the three provinces on November 27 and December 7.
“We will have a clear picture on the holding of the largest-ever exercise in Pakistan’s history when we inquire from Nadra and other institutions about the state of their readiness in this connection on October 29,” said a senior ECP official while talking to The News here.
Top officials of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Population Census, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), chief secretaries of the provinces, local government secretaries and other officials have been summoned for a meeting here at the Election Commission on October 29.
For polls in the Punjab and Balochistan, nomination papers will be received on November 8-10; objections can be filed on November 11-12 while November 13-15 has been fixed for scrutiny. Appeals on acceptance and rejection of papers will be received on November 16-18 while November 22 has been fixed for withdrawal of papers and symbols will be allotted next day. Polling date is December 7.
According to the Election Commission, within three days, official results would be notified about the election in three provinces.The meeting gave a formal go-ahead for pushing for preparations to holding the local bodies elections in three provinces as ordered by the Supreme Court the other day. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has yet to enact a law and propose the election date to the Election Commission.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission will give a presentation to the secretary finance on October 29 about the initial grant of Rs6.58 billion, as 75 percent of the total amount has to be paid for printing of nearly 600 million ballot papers and preparation of one million magnetic ink pads.
Sources pointed out that the Ministry of Finance had not been forthcoming in timely provision of funds and that was why the Election Commission was yet to pay well over Rs1 billion to the army and some other institutions for their services rendered in the May general election.
“We would like to know whether the state-run Printing Corporation of Pakistan has the capacity to print a huge number of ballot papers in the stipulated time and whether Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research would provide us the required number of ink pads,” the ECP sources maintained. They said Nadra would be asked to verify voters lists as per the old census blocks, as the provinces had declined to use the 140,000 new blocks.
