As Pakistan is entering an election mode, the country’s poll body has started making arrangements for the electoral exercise.
With the terms of the National Assembly, as well as the provincial assemblies in Sindh and Balochistan are moving closer to expiration within the next two months, the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) is making preparations for the general elections scheduled to take place in October.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja was briefed about the preparations for the upcoming general elections.
According to sources, Raja was informed that the procurement of papers for necessary election material and ballot papers had been completed and its storage had been ensured.
Moreover, the draft of listing of polling stations had also been prepared, which will be forwarded to returning officers immediately after the notification.
As per law, the last date of registration, exclusion and verification of voters is July 13.
The ECP has also initiated an awareness campaign and has been on constant contact with the National Database Regulatory Authority for printing and distribution of electoral rolls, procurement of papers for polling material and ballots completed.
Analysts say that the current coalition government is now ready to go through with the elections after its arch rival Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been stripped of fits political standing after May 9 violence.
“The road for the current government to retain its power and re-install a coalition setup is clear now. Imran Khan was the biggest threat to the government. Now that his party is broken and his political status has been weakened to the extreme; the government has no problems or challenges in sight to form another coalition government with its partners,” said Javed Siddique, a senior political analyst.
It was previously debated that the government was inclined towards delaying the general elections as it feared losing in the electoral process due to the strong political challenge posed by Khan and his party.
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