Presidential poll schedule today: ECP Pakistan

Schedule for election of the president will be issued on Friday (today), as there is a likelihood of conducting polls on March 9

Report By Imtiaz Hussain Abro.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on Thursday that the public notice and schedule for the presidential election will be released on Friday (today), with a likelihood of holding the polls on March 9. According to an ECP spokesperson, in accordance with the Constitution, a deadline will be set for the submission of nomination papers. Under the proposed plan, candidates can submit their nomination papers to any presiding officer until 12 pm on March 2.

“Interested candidates can obtain their nomination papers from the Election Commission Secretariat in Islamabad and from provincial election commissioners in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. For further information and assistance, individuals can contact the Election Commission Secretariat at telephone number 051-9219335,” the spokesperson stated.

While the ECP has yet to decide on the Sunni Ittehad Council’s application for reserved seats for women and minorities, the PMLN, PPP, and MQM are competing for the distribution of the remaining reserved seats accordingly. Moreover, the electoral body is confronted with a new scenario following the resignation of some Senate members, who subsequently took oath as members of the National Assembly during its inaugural session on Thursday. Among them are Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Yusuf Raza Gilani, and Nuzhat Sadiq, some of whom resigned to assume positions in provincial legislatures.

This development occurred less than two weeks before half of the senators were set to complete their six-year term. Nisar Khuhro and Jam Mehtab, whose terms were to end in 2027, have resigned.

“A meeting of the Election Commission will be convened to discuss the new developments, possibly on Friday, focusing on three main issues: the conduct of presidential elections, how to address the situation following the resignation of some Senate members just before the presidential polls, and the Senate elections to fill seats set to become vacant by March 11,” stated a senior ECP official.

Additionally, some by-elections are imminent due to members who were elected to multiple seats, such as Maryam Nawaz, who won seats in both the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly but opted to retain the latter, subsequently being elected as the first woman chief minister of the largest province.

Section 127 of the Elections Act, 2017, stipulates: Casual vacancy.—“(1) When, before the expiration of the term of the office of a member elected to the Senate, his seat becomes vacant or is declared vacant or his election to the Senate is declared void, the Commission shall, by notification in the official Gazette, call upon the Members of the Provincial Assembly 1 [or the National Assembly], as the case may be, to elect a person for the purpose of filling the vacancy on such date as may be specified in the notification; and the provisions of this Act and the Rules shall apply, in relation to the election of a Member to fill the vacancy.

“(2) When the seats of two or more Members, who were elected to the Senate by a Provincial Assembly 2 [or the National Assembly], become vacant, as the case may be, and whose term of office was due to expire on the same day become vacant simultaneously, elections to fill such seats may be held together.

“(3) When the seats of two or more Members, who were elected to the Senate by a Provincial Assembly 3 [or the National Assembly] and whose term of office was due to expire on different dates become vacant simultaneously, elections to fill such seats may be held separately.”