ECP issues schedule for Feb 8 general elections

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday night issued the schedule for the general elections on February 8, 2024.

According to a notification, the returning officer will issue a public notice on December 19, and the period for filing nominations with the returning officer will be from December 20 to 22.

Read more: No Possibility Of Change In ECP’s Announced Election Date: Minister

The Election Commission of Pakistan stated that the names of the nominated candidates for the elections will be published on December 23, and the scrutiny of their nomination papers will take place from December 24 to 30, the official news agency reported.

The deadline for filing appeals against the RO’s decisions on accepting or rejecting nomination papers is January 3, and the appellate tribunal is expected to decide on the appeals by January 10. The revised list of candidates for the elections will be published on January 11 and the last date for withdrawing one’s candidature is January 12.

Election symbols will be assigned to political parties on January 13, and the polls are scheduled for February 8, as per the ECP announcement.

Media reports said the Supreme Court on Friday evening suspended the Lahore High Court’s poll-related order, paving way for the elections to take place on February 8.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, took up the appeal filed by the ECP on the LHC order halting the training of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs).

“The election commission should do its job […] we will not micromanage you,” CJP Isa told the ECP’s team at the court, noting that there should be no hindrance in staging the polls now.

In its order on the ECP’s petition, the three-member SC bench ruled that the LHC would not hold further hearings on the petitions related to the appointment of polling officers and that any matter pertaining to the issue should be referred to the top court.