ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that it is impossible to hold general elections in the country within three months.
Talking to Daily Dawn, a senior official of the Election Commission termed the legal complexities and other steps as major challenges in holding the elections.
Also Read:
Shehbaz demands Army Chief, DG ISI to bring evidence before nation if they committed treason
It is not enough to be neutral, security agencies need to clarify their position: Fazl
The senior Election Commission official said that it would take about six months to prepare for the general elections.
He said that the number of seats has increased after the 26th amendment in the new constituencies and especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which has resulted in an increase in districts and constituencies.
The ECP official said that delimitation is a time consuming task in which time is required by law to file objections and one more month is required to resolve them. It takes three months, after which updating the voter lists is a huge task.
He added that procurement of materials for the elections, arrangement of ballot papers, deployment of polling staff and their training are also major challenges.
He said that watermark ballot papers used in general elections were also not available in the country which would have to be imported.
The senior ECP official said that for all these works, some time is also required on financial and technical level matters while 2 million stamp pads would be required for one lakh polling stations in the election equipment. “It’s a small example, but purchase of other material is also a huge issue, ” he said.
The senior official of the Election Commission also referred to the legal complications in this regard and said that under Section 14 of the Election Act, the Election Commission has to announce the election plan four months before the polling.
He mentioned the legal implications of using EVMs in elections and the right of Pakistanis abroad to vote.
