Senate Body recommends the ECP to announce Election Schedule at the earliest to remove any uncertainty regarding conduct of elections in country

ISLAMABAD, Sep 26 (SABAH): Meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was held here at Parliament House on Tuesday with Senator Taj Haider in Chair.

The Senate Committee was briefed on the arrangements and preparations for the upcoming General Elections in the country.

Secretary ECP, Omar Hamid Khan, apprised that the general election will encompass 266 National Assembly Constituencies and 593 Provincial Assemblies Constituencies, and there are 91,809 tentative polling stations nationwide, with 41,809 designated as normal,32,508 as sensitive, and 17,411 as highly sensitive. Furthermore, it was informed that around 1 million Polling staff will be required for the upcoming general elections. The Committee inquired about the methods for the consolidation of results in the upcoming general elections.

Secretary ECP stated that electronic devices having ECP developed software will be used to send snapshots of Form-45 to the Returning Officers, and the software is also equipped to keep track of time and place of snapshots in order to ensure the legitimacy of elections.

Moreover, Secretary ECP stated that the preliminary delimitations will be published today (Wednesday). However, a period of approximately sixty days will be required for filling and disposal of representations.

The Committee recommended that the time period for filing of representations should be curtailed from 30 days to 7 days, so that the general election could be held within 90 days. The Committee also drew attention of the ECP towards the Constitutional obligation to conduct general elections within 90 days after the dissolution of National Assembly. The Committee, however, recommended the ECP to announce the Election Schedule at the earliest to remove any uncertainty regarding the conduct of elections in the country.

While discussing the funds of development schemes, Senator Taj Haider emphasized that the funds should be allocated to approved schemes.

In addition to that, the Committee also deliberated on Starred Question No.48 referred to the Committee by the House, wherein Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, the Mover, expressed satisfaction with the reply submitted by the ECP regarding the appointments made in ECP since July,2020. Thereafter, the committee disposed of the matter.

The meeting was attended by Senator Abida Muhammad Azeem, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Senator Prof. Sajid Mir, Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi, Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Secretary ECP Omar Hamid Khan, Secretary for Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Muhammad Shakeel Malik and other senior officers of relevant departments were also in attendance.