PTI demands extension in polling hours
Extension in polling hours would facilitate general public and especially the elders and patients
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – As the 2018 general elections are just around the corner, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to extend the time of polling.
In a letter written to the ECP by the PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry demanded the Commission to extend the polling hours from 5pm to 8pm in the upcoming elections.
The letter stated that the intensity of heatwave has increased and the extension in polling hours would facilitate the general public and especially the elders and patients.
The letter further stated that more people can use their right to vote if the polling time is extended.
On Monday, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif while kicking off his party’s election campaign from Karachi had said that if voted to power Karachi will be turned into best city of the South Asia.
He said that water shortage issue facing by citizens of Karachi will be resolved within three years by producing water to each and every house hold.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the PML-N had resolved 90 percent load shedding issue, controlled terrorism and restored peace in the Karachi city and it will contest elections on bases of its performance.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan kicked off his election campaign by staging a major rally and promising sweeping changes in the country if his party wins.
Khan is hoping to achieve a years-long dream of becoming prime minister.
“With the grace of God, we will make a new Pakistan which will be self-sufficient and will stand on its own feet, will prosper and where government will serve its people,” Khan said.
The polls will bring to a head political tensions that have been mounting since former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court on corruption charges last July and later barred from politics for life.
On June 1, the ECP had issued schedule for general elections to be held on July 25. ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob while addressing a presser had stated that candidates can file nomination papers from tomorrow to sixth of this month.
According to the ECP schedule, the candidates were bound to file their nomination papers June 11 whilst the preliminary list of the nominated candidates will also be issued on the same day.
June 9 was fixed last date for scrutiny of nomination papers by the returning officers, while June 22 was set last date for filing of appeals against decisions of the returning officers rejecting or acceptance of nomination papers.
Last date for deciding of appeals by appellate tribunals is June 27 whilst the revised list of candidates will be published on June 28. Last date for withdrawal of candidature and publication of final list is June 29.
Pakistan’s government and parliament was dissolved on May 31, when a new interim prime minister and an interim administration had taken over.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was the 15th prime minister in Pakistan’s seven-decade history to be ousted before finishing a full term.
The country witnessed its first democratic transfer of power following polls in 2013, which Sharif s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won in a landslide.
The upcoming elections are expected to pit the PML-N against its main rival, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party led by Imran Khan.
Despite the numerous court rulings against the PML-N, the party has won a string of recent by-elections proving it will likely remain a powerful force.
