The deadline for the filing of the nomination papers for the February 8 general elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ended on the Sunday at 4:30 pm.
It is to be noted that, the ECP on December 15 has issued the election schedule along with the guidelines putting an end to the queries regarding the general elections.
According to the schedule, the process of filing the nomination papers for the national and the provincial assemblies seats started on December 20 and was set to end at 4:30 pm on Friday.
Whereas, the ECP later extended the deadline till Sunday. The ECP, in the statement, said that the decision was taken in reply to the requests from the political parties and to facilitate the candidacy process.
In the statement, it said that, “Political parties must submit priority lists for the specific seats to returning officers within the given time.”
Returning officers (ROs) will be examining the nomination papers from December 25 to December 30, as specified in the schedule. The statement highlighted that “all activities as mentioned in the election schedule released on December 15 will be held as per plans.”
According to the schedule released by the ECP, the last date for filing appeals against the RO’s decision to reject or accept nomination papers is January 3 with the last date for deciding the appeals by an appellate tribunal on Jan 10.
Notably, the revised list of the candidates will be published on January 11 and the last date for withdrawing one’s candidature is January 12. Moreover, the election symbols will be allotted to the political parties on January 13 with the polls set for February 8.
As per the reports, the ECP had decided to postpone the hearing complaints related to the delimitation, “prioritizing election schedule in line with the Supreme Court’s decision to avoid disruption.”
“In its orders, the ECP said that the Supreme Court has underscored the importance of general elections as a fundamental democratic principle,” the report said.
