While observing Supreme Court directives the Election Commission of Pakistan sets February 8,2024 for general election in the country as it has issued notification for the purpose before midnight on Friday.
The development took place soon after the top court’s three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Sardar Tariq Masood in response to plea of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in challenging legality of the Lahore High Court (LHC) stay order against appointment of election officers from the bureaucracy of Punjab.
A day ago, single-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi granted stay order in response to petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against holding general election in Punjab through executive. Suspending the ECP’s notification to hold general elections in Punjab through the executive on Thursday singe-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi issued notices to the caretaker federal and Punjab governments and the ECP in the matter.
In its five-page order, the LHC noted, “If the major political parties did not accept the election results, the nation’s money would be wasted.” It further pointed out that it was the ECP’s duty to conduct free and fair elections. Meanwhile, the ECP stopped training of District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (Ros) who were appointed for the upcoming general elections following the LHC order.
On Friday, after turning down the stay order of the LHC in the matter, the top court bench categorically directed the directed the ECP to issue the general election schedule in the country before midnight . According to notification of the ECP, nomination papers can be submitted to Returning Officers (ROs) from December 20 to December 22, 2023, with the names of nominated candidates set to be published on December 23. The scrutiny of nomination papers by ROs will take place from December 24 to December 30.
The deadline for filing appeals against RO decisions on nomination papers is January 3, 2024, and the Appellate Tribunal is expected to decide on appeals by January 10. The publication of the revised list of candidates is scheduled for January 11, with the last date for candidate withdrawals and the final publication of the revised list set for January 12. The allotment of election symbols to contesting candidates is slated for January 13, leading to the culmination of the general elections on February 8.
The election schedule is applicable to seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. The last date for submitting reserved seats nominations before the ROs is December 22, as per the official schedule.
Simultaneously, the ECP has also announced the resumption of training for District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) in preparation for the upcoming general elections. The training sessions for ROs are scheduled for December 17-18, while DROs will undergo training on December 19.
