ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected on Tuesday the request of Sindh and Balochistan for putting off local government elections till the end of March next year.

It decided to announce a fresh schedule for polls in Sindh and Punjab on Nov 29 and complete the process of holding elections across the country by Feb 28.

An official told Dawn after an inter-provincial meeting on the elections that the chief secretary of Sindh proposed that polls be held in the province in the last week of March next year. The proposal was rejected and he was reminded that earlier the provincial government wanted elections to be held on Nov 27 and had made tall claims about preparations. Then the chief secretary suggested that the elections be held in Sindh on Jan 30 but that idea was also rejected. The Punjab government plans elections on Jan 30.

The chief secretary of Balochistan also called for postponing elections in the province till the end of February in view of inclement weather conditions. He also referred to an arson attack on the office of returning officer in Khuzdar in which nomination forms of prospective candidates had been burnt.

He was told that polls in the province would take place on Dec 7 as per the schedule, but a new schedule for submission of forms in Khuzdar would be issued later.

The chief secretary of Punjab did not raise an objection to the polling date, but sought a little delay in the announcement of election schedule on the ground that the announcement would freeze development schemes at a crucial time when the provincial government was in a state of emergency and launching initiatives to cope with the challenge posed by dengue fever.

He was told that the entire scheme had been meticulously designed and each electoral activity was linked with another.

The chief secretary said the authorities concerned had been directed to finalise LG laws and rules by Dec 15 or be ready to face consequences.

Failure to do so would be considered a violation of Article 32 of the constitution, acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani was quoted as telling the official.

The article reads: “The state shall encourage local government institutions composed of elected representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions special representation will be given to peasants, workers and women.”

Later, acting Additional Secretary of the ECP Syed Sher Afgan told reporters that the governments of Sindh and Punjab had been asked to remove deficiencies from their LG laws and provide the commission with the updated laws, notified rules and notifications of delimitation of constituencies by Nov 28.

He said the public notice for polls in the two provinces would be issued on Dec 9 and nomination forms of intending candidates would be received from Dec 10 to 13. Objections on the papers will be received on Dec 14 and their scrutiny will be held from Dec 15 to 19. Appeals against acceptance or rejection of forms will be received on Dec 20 and 21 and disposed of between Dec 22 and 25.

Dec 26 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidature and final list of candidates will be published the same day.

Over 110 million nomination forms will be printed for Sindh and 300 million for Punjab by the Printing Corporation of Pakistan and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation. The organisations will be free to acquire services of other public sector printing facilities, but private printers will not be involved in the exercise.

Deadlines for digitisation of voter lists and supply of 2.5 million magnetised inkpads and 425,000 vials had been given to the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), respectively.

Syed Sher Afghan, the election commission’s additional secretary, said specifications of magnetised ink had been slightly changed to improve its quality. A committee comprising representatives of Nadra, the PCSIR and the ECP will approve the quality of the ink on Wednesday (today).

Sher Afgan said the chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told the meeting that the province had finalised LG laws and rules and would complete delimitation of constituencies in 40 days. It will provide the commission the prerequisites for announcement of schedule by Jan 15.

Describing LG polls as a complex exercise, he said it required ballot papers in seven colours and training of returning and presiding officers and other polling staff, besides education of voters for which a campaign would be launched.