After top court ruling, ECP issues new schedule for Punjab elections

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday announced a fresh schedule for Punjab elections that are due to be held on May 14, Aaj News reported.

In its notification today, ECP said that as per the top court's directions, polls in Punjab will be held on May 14.

"The last date for filing an appeal against the Returning Officer's decision is April 10," the notification said.

The decision was made by ECP in an emergency meeting held today for consultations on the SC verdict.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired the session.

The development comes a day after the SC ruled that the ECP's decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 was "unconstitutional."

In its verdict on Tuesday, a three-judge bench declared the ECP’s order unconstitutional and ordered elections in Punjab to be held on May 14.

The apex court directed the caretaker government in Punjab to assist the ECP with elections and said the federal government has been asked to help with this, ordering authorities to release Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10.

Meanwhile, the federal cabinet has rejected the SC’s verdict, and declared the decision was not “actionable.”

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief organizer Maryam Nawaz took exception to Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial's statement during the Punjab polls hearing, saying that the “CJP did not get emotional when she was thrown in jail”.

Speaking about the SC’s verdict, Maryam said the CJP’s fellow judges are not accepting his decisions, yet he is urging the nation to accept them.

“How can the CJP expect us to accept a decision that even his brother judges are not accepting? He excluded the judges who had raised legal reservations and instead brought those judges who favoured him,” she said.