How ironic that the very body tasked with enforcing the Elections Act 2017, is itself found violating the same.

Where has the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) gone wrong, you ask? Well, according to Section 57 of the Elections Act, polling must take place with a gap of at least 28 days after the final list of election candidates is issued.

The commission has said it will release the final list on June 29, which means that election day will come after a period of 26 days only.

It also missed the June 25 deadline to share the final polling schemes on its website. Section 59 (6) of the Act demands that the final schemes be issued 30 days before the election.

Counting from today (June 28), polling day is only 27 days away. This means ECP is already three days behind schedule, all the while insisting that the elections WILL take place on July 25.

Here's hoping the ECP can pull up its socks before the calendar turns to July.

See the countdown to election day here.

Opinion

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