RAWALPINDI: The Election Commission of Pakistan will resume the training of election supervisors on Monday after the Supreme Court suspended a Lahore High Court ruling that had brought the election process to a standstill, whereas the Rawalpindi district administration has decided to formulate a comprehensive plan to keep polls transparent and secure.

The ECP issued the election schedule on Friday, confirming polls would be held on Feb 8. The training of returning officers will be held in Lahore on Monday, while district returning officers (deputy commissioners) will attend a one-day training session in Lahore on Tuesday.

In Rawalpindi district, there were seven National Assembly seats and 14 provincial assembly seats, which means there would be seven returning officers for the NA constituencies and 14 ROs for the Punjab Assembly’s constituencies.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn the election watchdog and the district administration decided to chalk out a comprehensive transport plan for polling duties and in this regard, local police and district administration would provide the names of the officials within a day or two.

Over 2,500 polling stations to be set up in district

He said that the scrutiny of the officials would be started from next week and added that the administration would provide one vehicle for each polling station. He said that security would also provided to the staff at all polling stations.

There are 3,307,083 voters in the district. More than 24,000 government officials from 84 government departments will perform their duties in the elections.

At least 6,000 presiding officers/assistant presiding officers and 24,000 polling officers would be given training. As many as 5 per cent of the government officials will be kept in reserve.

He said 2,559 polling stations would be established in Rawalpindi district for which 2,000 polling buildings have been selected, but the process to finalise these locations would take a week or two to complete. DC Cheema said that three control rooms would be established in the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) buildings to provide a secure polling environment to the people. “One control room will be established to monitor the security of the prominent places in the garrison city. Second to monitor polling stations, and third to compile the record of the results,” he said.

The official said control rooms for security and monitoring would be functional from the day when the returning officers would start collecting nomination papers for elections.

He said that the district administration would ensure transparency in the process.

In response to a question about election rallies, he said no political parties have approached the district administration for permission yet.

He added that the district administration had been asked to provide maximum facilities to all parties and candidates without any discrimination.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2023