According to The News, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to reveal the election schedule on December 17, allowing candidates to submit their nomination papers the following day. The process to conduct the polls across the country on February 8 of the following year will span 54 days, as per ECP’s plan.
As outlined in Article 220 of the constitution, once the election schedule is announced, the caretaker government is obligated to assist the ECP in ensuring the conduct of fair and transparent elections in the nation.
However, preparations for the forthcoming general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024, faced a setback as the ECP suspended the training of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs). This decision came after the Lahore High Court (LHC) issued an order to halt the training sessions.
The notification about this suspension has been conveyed to the election commissioners of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. Currently, the training of DROs and ROs is underway in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta.
Previously, the high court rejected the ECP’s directive to appoint ROs from the bureaucracy for the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024.