{"id":31434,"date":"2023-12-04T14:19:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T14:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/information-minister-says-no-crisis-in-meeting-ecps-financial-needs\/"},"modified":"2023-12-04T14:19:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T14:19:05","slug":"information-minister-says-no-crisis-in-meeting-ecps-financial-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/information-minister-says-no-crisis-in-meeting-ecps-financial-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Information minister says \u2018no crisis\u2019 in meeting ECP\u2019s financial needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Monday that there was \u201cno crisis\u201d in meeting the financial needs of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ahead of the Feb 8 polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no crisis on meeting the financial needs of the ECP,\u201d he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cWhatever budgeted amount is needed by the ECP will be released as per its needs accordingly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The statement came after media outlets reported<\/a> that the commission had summoned the finance secretary today after the ministry had \u201cfailed\u201d to provide the funds allocated for general elections.<\/p>\n

Solangi added that the federal cabinet had already approved Rs42 billion for the ECP\u2019s \u201cbudgetary needs\u201d, adding that Rs10bn had already been released. The minister said the electoral watchdog had approached the government to release Rs17.4bn out of the remaining budgeted amount.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe firmly stand behind the ECP in holding free and fair elections as mandated by Article 218(3) of the constitution,\u201d the information minister concluded.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal visited the ECP headquarters in Islamabad earlier today. During a brief interaction with the media while leaving the premises, he said the finance department would release the funds required for the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will release the funds [\u2026] in two days,\u201d Bosal said. \u201cWhatever their (ECP\u2019s) need is,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Last week, the ECP had rejected<\/a> what it said were \u201cbaseless and misleading\u201d reports about a delay in the upcoming general elections.<\/p>\n

The statement had come in response to media reports<\/a> that a request was submitted to the ECP to postpone the general elections, citing security concerns in Balochistan and the recent wave of terrorism.<\/p>\n

The ECP and President Arif Alvi had agreed<\/a> earlier this month on Feb 8, 2024, as the date for polls \u2014 an announcement that has stirred activity in the camps of major political parties.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Monday that there was \u201cno crisis\u201d in meeting the financial needs of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ahead of the Feb 8 polls. \u201cThere is no crisis on meeting the financial needs of the ECP,\u201d he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cWhatever budgeted amount […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/041852034d17c50.png?r=185239","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t