Election Commission Protracts Nomination Paper Submission Deadline by 48 Hours

Political parties like PML-N, MQM-P, JUI-F, among others, have pushed for an extension in the nomination filing period, resulting in an adjustment by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). As per the recent update, candidates now have until December 25 to submit their nomination papers, with a prior cutoff for political parties to present reserved seat priority lists on December 24.

Election Commission Protracts Nomination Paper Submission Deadline by 48 Hours

The ECP clarified that the scrutiny process for these nomination papers is scheduled between December 25 and December 30. This extension comes subsequent to initial dates set by the ECP from December 20 to 22 for receiving nomination papers.

Several parties, including JUI-F, MQM-P, PML-N, and BAP, collectively approached the Election Commission seeking an elongated timeframe for submitting nomination papers.

Senator Ishaq Dar, representing PML-N, directly addressed the chief election commissioner, advocating for a two-day extension in the nomination filing deadline until December 24. The rationale behind this request was to offer candidates adequate time to compile necessary documentation, which involves a comprehensive process demanding various details and accompanying documents such as no objection certificates (NOCs) from diverse public sector departments.

Dar emphasized that the current timeframe of merely three days for filing nominations, in contrast to the seven days designated for scrutiny, might not suffice for the detailed and time-sensitive requirements, potentially leading to the rejection of nomination papers.