ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan is committed to hold general election on time and preparations are in full swing to make all arrangements to ensure free, fair and transparent polls in the country.
The crucial process of deciding objections on delimitation is smoothly heading towards conclusion as almost all objections filed to the ECP have been decided and disposed of while remaining will be completed by 3 May.
Voters list will be completed by 30 April while training of election staff is near completion. This will be followed by printing of ballot papers.
The ECP has received over two hundred thousand forms submitted by people for registration as voters till April 24 at its display centres across the country. According to Election Commission, over six hundred thousand checked their vote registration in unofficial and preliminary lists.
The ECP said that 2.8 million people approached it via short messages on 8300 for details of their vote. The ECP had prepared preliminary electoral rolls with the names of over 104 million voters and put them on display at over 14,000 display centres across the country from March 26 for inspection by the general public.
The lists contain the names of 8.1 million new voters. The data show 21 per cent increase in the number of voters since the last general elections in 2013. The names of about 800,000 voters have been removed from the list that was used in the 2013 general elections, according to the ECP.
NA PANEL ASKS ECP TO LIFT BAN ON RECRUITMENTS, SCHEMES: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Thursday asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to lift the ban on recruitments and ongoing development schemes.
The committee, met under the chair of Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan, considered “The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017” moved by MNA Naeema Kishwer Khan. After the discussion, it was recommended that an amendment proposed in section 41 may be passed by the National Assembly, however, while the proposed amendment in section 211 was withdrawn by the mover.
ECP additional secretary briefed the committee on the ban on recruitments and development schemes. He said that under Article 218 (3) and 220 of the Constitution, the ECP had imposed the ban on recruitments and development schemes to prevent pre-pole rigging in the next general election. He said that all kind of recruitments except for those made by federal and provincial public service commissions had been banned by the ECP. Provincial representatives were of the view that the notification regarding the ban on should have been after consulting federal and provincial governments. They said that the ban will have bearing on the ongoing development schemes.
The committee also expressed serious concerns over the ban and recommended that the ECP should lift the ban on recruitments and ongoing development schemes. The committee recommended that the impugned notification should be revised/amended in the larger public interest.
Malik Ihtebar Khan, Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang, Nadeem Abbas Rabaira, Chaudhry Salman Haneef Khan, Arifa Khalid Parvez, Ms. Belum Hasnain, Dr. Shazia Sobia, Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak and others also attended the meeting.