ECP, political parties’ consultative meeting rescheduled

ISLAMABAD: The consultative meeting between the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and political parties has been rescheduled to next Wednesday.

The ECP spokesperson said that the consultative meeting with the political parties was initially scheduled for October 4, however, it was postponed due to the unavailability of specific members.

Contradicting a news report currently being aired on various TV channels, the ECP spokesperson in a statement clarified that the meeting is set for next Wednesday, October 11  at 2 p.m. at the ECP Secretariat Islamabad.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) penned down a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), seeking to invite international observers for upcoming general elections.

In the letter to Foreign Office, the election commission said that it wanted to invite international observers under section 238 of the Election Act.

“The ECP ensures the participation of international observers for the transparency of the general elections”, the letter stated, urging the Foreign Office to provide the list of organisations of foreign observers.

The letter noted that Secretary election commission has summoned a meeting regarding the participation of observers in polls. “The Foreign Office will be informed about the meeting”, it added.

The decision to international observers was taken at a meeting of the Commission in Islamabad with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair.

It was also decided to expedite process of cases of those international observers who have already made request to observe the electoral process.