ECP to release schedule for Senate poll next month

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has initiated the process of holding the upcoming Senate elections, for which the schedule of the voting was expected to be released in the second week of February.

The voting will be held to elect 48 new senators — 11 each from Punjab and Sindh and 12 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, while two from the federal capital. They will replace the retiring senators on March 11.

The Senate polls will be based on proportional representation and single transferable vote. The ECP has not taken any decision so far on the mode of voting — secret or open.

The government has sent a reference to the

Supreme Court for interpretation of the relevant constitutional clauses for the election mode. In its statement to the apex court, the ECP had opposed open balloting.

Officials said that preparations for the Senate elections have been divided in three phases. They added that the ECP has begun work on a schedule, which was expected to be released in the second week of next month.

Simultaneously, the ECP has started training of officers for conducting the elections. The polling staff will be trained in two phases, the sources said, adding that the first phase of training will begin next week to be followed by the second phase.

Everyone is waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court on the mode of voting. Meanwhile, all the political parties having representation in the electoral college are in the process of finalising their candidates for the Senate elections.

The ECP has also explained its position over the extent of secrecy in the foreign funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI).

There seems to be confusion about the open/closed hearing of the case, ECP spokesman Nadeem Qasim said in a statement. “It is clarified that there will be open hearing of the case before the ECP once the scrutiny committee submits its report.”

He said in-camera proceedings would be conducted before the scrutiny commitee though it was being carried out in the presence of both parties.

Reacting to the latest ECP statement that the scrutiny would be conducted in camera while the trial would be open, the petitioner and PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar stated that keeping the scrutiny secret was in violation of ECP’S own order of May 30, 2018 that rejected PTI’S application to keep scrutiny and record secret.

The ECP order had explicitly stated that all records before the commitee were public record.