Elections scrutiny phase concludes today
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Scrutiny of nomination papers for upcoming general elections of National and Provincial Assemblies will be completed today (Monday) as ninety per cent process in this regard has been completed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. According to details, ninety per cent works of Election Commission for 342 seats of National Assembly, 371 of Punjab Assembly, 168 of Sindh Assembly, 124 of NWFP Assembly and 65 seats of Balochistan have been completed.
The decision regarding the acceptance or rejections of nomination papers of important candidates like Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will be decided today (Monday). The candidates can appeal to the Election Tribunal till December 7, and decision will be announced on December 14. Election Commission has formed the tribunal of judges of High Court.
The Election Commission will also allot the election symbol to the parties on Tuesday and Wednesday and the EC had dispatched a list of election symbols to provincial offices in this regard. For the allotment of the symbols, the candidates have to show party tickets. The candidates can take back their nomination papers till December 15 whereas the final list of candidates will be issued on December 16. The work for publishing of ballot papers has been started in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad and will be completed within fifteen days.
The scrutiny of over 13000 nomination papers filed for 342 National Assembly and 728 Provincial Assemblies seats across the country will be completed today (Monday). The Offices of the Returning Officers remained open till midnight on Sunday. Election Commission had fixed one-week time ending today for the scrutiny of nomination papers, while 95 percent of the scrutiny of received nomination papers has been completed so far. Some of the important seats’ returning officers have fixed Monday the date for the scrutiny of nomination papers, which included those of PML (N) Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif from Lahore constituency NA-120, former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad’s from Rawalpindi and PML (N) leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.
The candidates could submit their appeals in the Election Tribunal against the acceptance and rejection of the nomination papers by the returning officers and for filing the objections on it, which would be decided by December 14. Election Commission has constituted nine Tribunals comprising of High Courts’ Judges. The EC would allot election symbols to the political parties and candidates on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the lists of the symbols have already been sent to the Provincial Election Commission offices for this purpose.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson, Benazir Bhutto has said that the Election Commission (EC) was not providing the electoral lists and demanding payment of Rs30 million for the same, which for any political party was not possible to manage.
Benazir Bhutto in a press conference here, while expressing her angst on the honourable Judges’ arrests and the curbs on Geo channel, urged upon the release of the Judges and lifting of the ban on Geo. She said that the extremists have a hand in the devastating law and order situation in Pakistan—they should be wiped out and those who blame her for bringing a foreign agenda were hypocrites. Benazir Bhutto said that her party would enforce Political Party Act for bringing the tribal areas into the main stream and political solution would also be found out for the maintenance of peace in Fata.
Forty-two nomination papers filed for election to national assembly Constituency as well as provincial assembly constituencies in Hangu District Eight candidates have filed nomination papers for the constituency No. NA-16 Hangu and 15 candidates have filed for PF-42 Hanug-I while 19 candidates have filed their nominations papers from the constituency PF-Hangu-II PF-19.