ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said that the polling schedule for the presidential election on March 1.
According to an ECP spokesperson, the formation of all assemblies will be completed by February 29, thereby finalizing the electoral college necessary for the presidential election.
“The schedule and official notice for the presidential election will be released on March 1,” stated the spokesperson.
The ECP press release said that presidential candidates can obtain nomination papers from its headquarters and the four Provincial Election Commissioners.
“On March 1, a public notice will declare the polling day. Nomination papers can be submitted until 12:00 on March 2,” added the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Gohar Khan said that no other party is entitled to the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
According to Khan, the Election Commission’s decisions have allegedly disregarded their constitutional rights. He claimed that no assembly session should be held until the matter of reserved seats is resolved.
Khan further criticized the purportedly ‘illegal’ session of the Punjab Assembly and anticipated that the upcoming session of the National Assembly, scheduled for February 29, would also be deemed illegal.
He insisted that the National Assembly session should only convene after the notification of all members, as per the submissions made by the SIC to the ECP.
Highlighting the allocation of reserved seats, Khan noted that there are 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for minorities in the National Assembly.
Khan also raised concerns about alleged conspiracies against PTI, stating that their candidates contested elections on independent symbols. He claimed that a significant number of their MNAs joined the Sunni Ittehad Council, with similar trends observed in other provinces’ assemblies.
