It has been announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the Punjab Provincial Assembly elections have been rescheduled following the Supreme Court’s decision to reject the delay.
The ECP announced the election stages on Wednesday, with voting set for May 14 and an April 10 appeals deadline for the Returning Officer’s decision on the nomination papers.
The ECP has modified its prior notification of March 22, 2023 in response to the SC’s ruling, pushing back the elections in Punjab by more than five months.
By April 17, the election tribunal will consider appeals, and April 18, the revised candidate list must be published. Candidate symbols will be distributed on April 20. April 19 is the final day to withdraw your nomination papers.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) appealed the decision to postpone the Punjab election, which resulted in a week-long hearing during which two of the original five judges recused themselves.
The PTI’s petition was pursued by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and as a result, the court ruled that the ECP’s decision to delay the Punjab elections was unconstitutional.
The government had given the economic crisis and security concerns as justifications for the delay, but the SC’s ruling has dealt a serious blow to those claims.
Politically significant, the election in the Punjab province is being delayed, which has drawn ire from the opposition, including Imran Khan’s PTI.
The May 14 election has now been scheduled by the ECP, and since the appeals deadline has been moved to April 10, candidates will have a short window of opportunity to contest the Returning Officer’s decision regarding the validity of their nomination papers.
The allocation of symbols on April 20 will mark a crucial turning point in the election because it will definitively determine how the candidates will appear on the ballots.
Overall, the Supreme Court’s ruling reinstated the original schedule for the Punjab elections, and the ECP’s revised notification prepared the ground for the crucial elections in the province.
After the government’s attempts to postpone the election were unsuccessful, the political parties in Punjab will now gear up for a crucial election.
