ISLAMABAD: The electoral organisation has announced to have set up a facilitation centre, to be assisted by the government bodies; FBR, NAB, SBP, FIA and NADRA, for the related scrutiny of nominations for the general elections.
The facilitation centre would work 24/7, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Monday.
The related credentials of the general polls’ contestants would be sent by the relevant returning officers to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the poll entity said in a statement.
ECP extends deadline for filing nomination papers for general elections
The ECP has also written to the secretaries of Power Division, Petroleum Division, National Telecommunication Division, Housing and Works Division, chief secretaries of the provinces, and Capital Development Authority (CDA) in connection with the scrutiny of the nominations, the statement added.
Sunday was the last date for the nominations’ submissions. The scrutiny of the nominations started yesterday (Monday) and it would continue till coming Saturday, as per poll body’s revised schedule.
The nominations’ data issued by the ECP on Monday suggested that 28,626 submissions were received by the ROs for the general and reserved seats of the five assemblies.
Reports surfacing from different parts across the country suggested that the candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who wanted to submit their nominations to the ROs, as PTI candidates for general polls, were mostly not allowed to do so through intimidating and coercive methods, by the officials of some “powerful” state institutions, in order to prevent them from contesting the polls on PTI tickets.
Scores of footages are doing rounds on the social media wherein the officials of law enforcement agencies can be seen snatching nominations papers from the PTI candidates, manhandling them through torture and verbal abuse, arresting these candidates and intimidating them by launching late-night raids at their residences.
The videos also reveal that families of the PTI candidates are being harassed by unidentified plain-clothed men apparently to dissuade them from supporting the PTI.
In addition, on Friday, in the midst of the nominations’ submission process (December 20-24), the ECP nullified the former ruling party’s intra-party elections, for the third time since last year, declaring the PTI ineligible for obtaining its traditional electoral symbol of bat.
The ECP issued this verdict shortly after assuring a PTI delegation, which visited the ECP headquarters and met senior ECP officials on Friday, of level playing field in the general elections.
The development implies that the PTI is practically out of the general elections - and its candidates would have to contest the polls as independents - unless the former ruling party moves superior courts that decide otherwise.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023