The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has recommended holding the upcoming general elections on a date between July 25 and July 27.
The ECP has forwarded a summary to President Mamnoon Hussain in this regard asking him to set a date under the Election Act, 2017. The election schedule is likely to be issued in the first week of June.
On July 18, ECP spokesman Altaf Hussain had said that the date for the general elections would be announced after mutual consultations.
The incumbent government is set to conclude its five-year term on May 31, after which the caretaker government will take over to oversee the general elections.
As per the constitution of Pakistan, the caretaker prime minister is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the opposition leader in the National Assembly. The prime responsibility of the caretaker government is to ensure that the elections are held in a transparent manner and the basic functions of the government continue without an elected setup in place.
As part of preparations for the general elections, the ECP has directed provincial chief secretaries to ensure security of returning officers and polling staff. While district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) have been appointed mostly from the lower judiciary, the assistant returning officers (AROs) were selected from civil bureaucracy – mainly the district administration group officers.
As per the polling scheme announced by the ECP, as many as 86,436 polling stations will be set up for the elections, including 48,667 in Punjab and 18,647 in Sindh. In FATA and KP, 14,655 polling stations will be established besides 4,467 in Balochistan.
Published in Daily Times, May 22nd 2018.
