ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties have demanded that the nomination papers filing deadline be extended by two days, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has complied.
The ECP said in a statement on Friday that political parties may submit a priority list for reserved seats by the same date, and candidates can now submit nomination papers till December 24.
The electoral authority announced that the nomination papers will be scrutinized from December 25 to December 30.
The ECP had previously declared that the nomination papers would be accepted between December 20 and December 22.
Following this, the political groups Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), PML-N, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) have applied for an extension with the Election Commission in a letter to the chief election commissioner (CEC), Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N requested a two-day delay until December 24 for the submission of nomination papers in order to provide candidates more time to prepare.
He had seen that seven days had been set aside for the examination of papers, but just three days, beginning on December 20, had been allotted for the nomination process.
He emphasized that the nomination filing process necessitates the provision of several facts and supporting documentation, such as no objection certificates (NOCs) from various public sector agencies.
He stated, “It takes a lot of time to complete this exercise, and any delay could result in the nomination papers being rejected.”
Reacting negatively to the ECP’s ruling, former senator Mustafa Nawaz
