ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the schedule for the upcoming Senate polls with slight amendment to dates for submission of nomination papers already announced by it.
The commission, however, withheld the schedule for Senate seats from Fata and Islamabad, as the president is yet to extend the Elections Act, 2017 to Fata and determine the manner for Senate seats from the tribal areas and Islamabad through two different orders.
According to the schedule, the returning officer will issue a public notice on Feb 3 inviting nomination papers which can be filed during office hours till Feb 8. A list of candidates will be published on Feb 9. The last date for scrutiny of nomination papers has been fixed at Feb 12, while Feb 15 will be the last date for filing appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers. The appeals will be disposed of by Feb 17. A revised list of the candidates will be published on Feb 18, while Feb 19 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The polling will take place on March 3.
ECP Secretary Babar Yaqub Fateh Muhammad told a National Assembly panel on Friday that the schedule for Senate elections on seats from Fata and Islamabad could not be announced because of the absence of a law. “Non-issuance of schedule for Fata and Islamabad today does not mean that it will not be done tomorrow,” he told the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which met here with Shezra Mansab Ali in the chair.
A representative of the law ministry told the committee that a summary had already been moved and presidential orders on the subject were most likely to be issued over the next 24 hours.
After completing scrutiny of the nomination papers by Feb 9, a list of valid candidates will be issued on Feb 15. The candidates will be allowed to withdraw nominations by Feb 16.
Answering a question by the members, the ECP secretary said the schedule for general polls would be announced either on May 26 or 27.
He told the committee members that the delimitation process had already started and was to be completed by May 3. Asked if the notification of delimitation committees was a secret document, the ECP secretary said it had been kept secret to ensure that the committees were not approached and pressurised, and held out an assurance that the delimitation would be carried out strictly in accordance with the law.
ECP Additional Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain gave a detailed briefing to the committee on timelines for delimitation and quota per seat in national and provincial assemblies. He said the draft proposals for delimitation would be published on March 5, followed by a period of 30 days for filing objections, which will be disposed of in next 30 days. The publication of final delimitation is scheduled for May 3.
Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2018
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