Cannot hold Senate elections before February 10, says ECP

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday has cleared that it cannot hold Senate elections before February 11, ARY News reported.

Half of the Senators to retire on March 11, 2021, and the ECP cannot hold the polls on the said before February 10, the statement issued by Pakistan’s supreme electoral body said.

“A law defining procedure of the Senate polls is already present,” the election commission said adding that the ECP has 30 days to hold the elections on the seats of retiring Senators.

An election for the slot of Chairman and Deputy Chairman Senate would be held on March 12. The chairman and deputy chairman would take oath of their responsibilities on the same day.

The ECP said that the schedule for the Senate polls will be announced later.

It is pertinent to mention here that on December 15, the federal government decided to hold Senate elections in February rather than in March.

Read more: PML-N announces to approach court against early Senate elections 

The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan had further decided to hold Senate elections through a show of hands procedure rather than a secret ballot.

For this purpose, the top consultative body of the federal government decided to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan in this regard, where it would file a reference under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan for the changes.