<\/p>\n
The PPP and PML-N on Friday accused the PTI of delaying general elections scheduled for Feb 8, a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) paused a three-day training session for returning officers and district returning officers.<\/p>\n
The electoral body\u2019s move came in response to a Lahore High Court order suspending the electoral watchdog\u2019s notification regarding the appointment of ROs and DROs from the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
The high court order, which was issued on a petition submitted by the PTI, seemingly brought the electoral process to a standstill, causing widespread concern among political parties \u2014 including the petitioner PTI \u2014 regarding general elections which are slated for Feb 8 next year.<\/p>\n
In its petition in the high court, the PTI had contested the appointments of bureaucrats to act as DROs and ROs for the upcoming general elections and sought the appointment of officials from the lower judiciary for the poll exercise.<\/p>\n
The watchdog was expected to announce the election schedule within this week, but now it seems to be in limbo.<\/p>\n
An ECP official told Dawn<\/em> that the announcement of the schedule depended on the final verdict in the case related to the appointment of DROs and ROs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ROs are the ones who issue public notices inviting nominations and also receive and scrutinise nomination papers. An election schedule cannot be issued in the absence of ROs,\u201d he had said. \u201cIn fact, it is the job of the ROs to implement the schedule,\u201d the ECP official explained.<\/p>\n The official said the appointment of ROs was made as per the law, as he expressed surprise over the court ruling, which came on late Wednesday night. He had claimed that the judiciary, not the ECP, would be responsible in case elections were delayed.<\/p>\n In a statement issued today, PPP leader and former federal minister Sherry Rehman said rumours of a delay in elections had started doing the rounds after the LHC announced its decision on the PTI petition.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to the order, the ECP suspended its training sessions for ROs and DRO,\u201d she noted, alleging that PTI\u2019s \u201cdouble standards\u201d had delayed the release of the election schedule. \u201cWho is responsible for this?\u201d Rehman asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PTI has once again tried to derail the electoral process,\u201d the PPP leader claimed. \u201cThis reflects their undemocratic and apolitical mindset. It is clear that the PTI does not want elections to be held in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Rehman reiterated that the PPP was fully prepared for polls and expressed hope that the judiciary would resolve the matter soon.<\/p>\n PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal also accused the PTI of \u201cconspiring to sabotage election\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n More to follow<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The PPP and PML-N on Friday accused the PTI of delaying general elections scheduled for Feb 8, a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) paused a three-day training session for returning officers and district returning officers. The electoral body\u2019s move came in response to a Lahore High Court order suspending the electoral watchdog\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35773,"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\/151719440768671.jpg?r=171947","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"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