Pakistan’s Election Commission is likely to receive funding

According to reports cited by The News International, the Punjab provincial election funding will likely reach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Monday.
Additionally, the ECP spokeswoman acknowledged that they have not yet received the payments. For the Punjab polls, the Election Commission has asked the government for 21 billion rupees, and the Supreme Court has directed the Finance Ministry to provide the money by April 10.

The Punjab Assembly elections were given a new date of May 14 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on April 5, according to The Dawn.The decision came after the Pakistan Supreme Court’s (directives that the elections be held on May 14 instead of the previously notified date of October 8.

The revised schedule was issued in a notification which cited the Supreme Court’s order in response to a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the ECP’s decision to postpone the elections in Punjab from the originally decided date of April 30 to October 8.

According to the Dawn, elections to the Punjab Assembly have been due since January this year when the house was dissolved. In early March, the ECP had proposed that the elections be held between April 30 and May 7 and subsequently, President Arif Alvi accepted the commission’s recommendations by setting April 30 as the date for the polls.

Under the revised schedule, the last date for the filing of appeals against the decisions of the returning officer rejecting or accepting the candidates’ nomination papers has been set as April 10.The appellate tribunal can decide these appeals by April 17 and a revised list of candidates has to be issued by April 18.

The last date for the withdrawal of candidature and the publication of another revised list of candidates has been set as April 19, following which symbols have to be assigned to candidates by April 20, according to the Dawn.The elections, in line with the SC’s directives, are to be held on May 14.