ISLAMABAD: Polling for the first phase of local government elections in Punjab and Sindh will take place on October 12.

A meeting held at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wed­nesday, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, decided that the schedule for the first of the three phases would be announced on Friday, Aug 21.

An ECP official told Dawn that the schedule for the remaining two phases would be announced at a later date.

Also read: ECP and Sindh, Punjab to defend phased LG polls plan in court

However, he was confident that the whole electoral exercise will be completed in the two larger provinces before the end of the year.

Schedule for remaining two phases will be announced at a later date

The official said that districts that were neither affected nor face any threat of flooding this year have been chosen for the first phase where polls will be held in 12 districts in Punjab, namely Lodhran, Vehari, Okara, Bahawalpur, Bahawalna­gar, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Gujrat, Rawalpindi and Attock.

In Sindh, elections in the first phase will be held in 13 districts — Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Hyderabad, Dadu, Jamshoro, Khairpur, Larkana, Shikarpur and Qambar Shahdadkot.

According to the proposed schedule in both provinces, returning officers will issue public notices on August 24, while nomination papers can be filed from Aug 28 to Sept 1.

Returning officers will scrutinise nomination papers between Sept 3 and 8, while Sept 12 has been set as the last date for filing appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers.

The last date for a decision on such appeals will be Sept 17, and candidates will be allowed to withdraw until Sept 18.

The final list of candidates will be published the next day and polling will take place on October 12.

According to the relevant laws of the two provinces, local governments in Punjab and Sindh will have a term of five and four years, respectively.

Age limit

Under the Punjab local government law, a person is qualified to contest the elections if he is not less than 25 years old on Sept 1.

However, this minimum limit does not apply to candidates for youth councillor.

By contrast, this age has been set at 21 years by the Sindh government.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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