ISLAMABAD – President Dr Arif Alvi has announced the date for holding the general elections of the provincial assembly of Punjab.
He announced the April 30 for polls after considering the dates proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Earlier, the ECP sent a letter to the president proposing a poll date between 30th April to 7th May 2023. The dates were proposed in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict that said the elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A day ago, the electoral body also started preparation for the elections.
ECP also sent notification to the provincial election commissioners and ordered them to start preparations for the polls at the earliest.
Besides this, the commission decided to train the election officers by next week, which will be completed within a couple of days.
ECP said that the staff will be trained in the Election Commission Secretariat, after which they will further train district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs).
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday ruled that the elections to the two assemblies should be held within the stipulated period of 90 days. It, however, allowed the ECP to propose a poll date that deviates from the 90-day deadline by the “barest minimum”, in case of any practical difficulty.
It also held that President Alvi and the KP governor will fix dates for Punjab and KP assemblies, respectively, in consultation with the ECP.
The Punjab and KP assemblies were dissolved on Jan 14 and 18, respectively. Under the law, the elections are to be held within 90 days after the dissolution of assemblies.