The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday clarified that if the National Assembly completes its constitutional tenure, it is prepared to conduct the general elections before Oct. 11—within the 60-day limit mandated by the Constitution.
“If the assembly is dissolved after the completion of the term on Aug. 12, then we will hold the elections before Oct. 11,” ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain told a media briefing alongside Secretary Omar Hamid Khan. However, he added, the ECP was also prepared to hold polls within 90 days if the National Assembly were dissolved ahead of its constitutional tenure. He also confirmed that the elections would be held on the basis of the delimitation done after the 2017 census, as the Council of Common Interests had yet to validate the results of the digital census held earlier this year.
According to Hussain, the ECP is already in touch with all relevant institutions for the conduct of elections and would approach security officials as the date for polls neared. He confirmed media reports that the electoral body had already purchased watermarked paper for the ballots.
During the briefing, the official said the ECP had approached the judiciary for the deployment of officers as district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs). For this purpose, he explained, letters had already been sent to the registrars of the Islamabad, Peshawar and Sindh high courts, while reminders had been sent to the Peshawar and Lahore high courts.
Hussain further confirmed that elections would be held as per the new electoral reforms, which were signed into law by Sadiq Sanjrani as acting president last month. The amendments have limited to a maximum of five years the disqualification of any parliamentarian, and allowed the ECP to announce a date for polls without requiring the president’s approval, as well as granting it the authority to make any changes to the election program after announcing dates for it.
To a question on penalties for electoral candidates who exceeded the limits of expenses set by law, he said a monitoring mechanism was in place. The ECP secretary, similarly, conceded that the use of “black money” in polls was a persistent problem, adding taxation laws must be improved to address it.
Masood Sherwani, the ECP political finance wing director-general told reporters that the ECP had designed and developed a political finance management information system, which would enable it to provide forensic-level data with evidence in case of any violations. Among the measures adopted, he said, guiding principles had been set for chartered accountants preparing statements of assets of political parties, and a standard prescribed for audit reports. He also said that statements of assets of political parties would be placed on the ECP’s website.