The general election is scheduled to take place on February 8, 2024….reports Asian Lite News
Hours after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruling, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday night issued the election schedule for the general polls set to take place on February 8, 2024, Dawn reported.
The polling process will begin on December 19, when the returning officer (RO) will issue a public notice, while the ECP will also resume training for the ROs and district returning officers (DROs).
The election programme also applies to the reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and four provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.
Notably, the commission issued the election schedule late at night in line with the Supreme Court’s orders.
In a hiccup with the polling process, the Lahore High Court suspended the commission’s notification for the appointment of the ROs and DROs from the executive branch–in defiance of the SC’s orders, Dawn reported.
The Lahore HC’s verdict was issued on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the same party that had called for timely polls in a plea filed in the Supreme Court.
Following detailed deliberations, the commission filed a petition in the top court seeking the annulment of the HC order. The Pakistan SC accepted the plea a few hours back, putting the process back on track.
Earlier, Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly three days before the completion of its five-year term, upon the advice of then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The former government prematurely dissolved the lower house to ensure that the polls were scheduled 90 days later, in line with the Pakistan Constitution.
However, that didn’t happen, as ECP stated that it couldn’t follow the 90-day deadline as it had to work on fresh delimitation of constituencies after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approved the results of the 2023 digital census.
Following the ECP decision, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and several others filed a plea in the top court seeking timely polls. On the same plea, the SC ordered the ECP and the president to consult, which resulted in a consensus date of February 8, Dawn reported.
No Weekend Holidays For EC Staff
In a significant move, the Election Commission of Sindh has decided to suspend general weekend holidays for its staff until the conclusion of all stages of the upcoming general election in 2024, scheduled for February 8, ARY News reported.
The decision was communicated through a letter addressed to regional and district election commissioners.
The letter emphasised that all offices of the Election Commission of Sindh, including field offices, will remain operational during weekends.
This step is aimed at ensuring the smooth progress of election-related activities and preparations leading up to the scheduled polling day.
The commissioner of the election commission in Sindh penned down a letter to the regional and district election commissioners, suspending the holidays of the officers and staffers on Saturday and Sunday until all the stages of general elections – scheduled to be held on February 08, 2024 – are done, reported ARY News.
Earlier, on November 29, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) concluded its work on the schedule for the general elections in 2024.
The draft schedule outlined the collection of nomination papers in the second week of December 2023, with scrutiny to be completed by the third week of December 2023.
The deputation of returning officers (ROs) is set to be finalised in the first week of January 2024, and the final list of candidates will be published in the third week of January 2024. The polling is scheduled to take place on February 8, 2024.
This move by the Election Commission of Sindh aligns with efforts to maintain a conducive environment for election-related tasks and underscores the significance of adhering to a comprehensive timeline in the lead-up to the general elections, ARY News reported. (ANI)
Fawad Chaudhry Arrested in Corruption Case
Pakistan’s former federal minister, Fawad Chaudhry, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday over corruption charges, Geo News reported.
The arrest warrant was signed by NAB Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt, and Chaudhry was taken into custody from Adiala jail, where he was detained in a fraud case.
The former information minister was detained in a corruption case, according to the warrant, and will be brought before the court, according to Geo News.
Hiba Chaudhry, the politician’s wife, acknowledged that an arrest order for Fawad Chaudhary had been issued.
Fawad was detained on November 4 (Saturday) from his Islamabad apartment after a complaint was lodged against him in Islamabad’s Aabpara Police Station for accepting a Rs5 million bribe in return for a job.
Hiba earlier stated that Fawad was arrested without cause. “Fawad has been arrested and taken to an unknown place,” she went on to say, according to Geo News.
In June of this year, Chaudhry apologised to the electoral commission for reportedly using “intemperate” language against the ECP and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.
Fawad was also among the hundreds of party members and officials detained since May 9 in connection with the PTI’s suspected role in the rioting that cost at least eight lives and injured scores more, as per Geo News.
In June, the former minister was among the PTI figures present at the inauguration of the Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), led by Khan’s close political adviser, Jahangir Tareen. (ANI)
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