By-polls on 31 more NA seats to be held on March 19

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced the schedule for by-elections in 31 more National Assembly constituencies.

According to a notification issued by the election commission, the by-polls on the 31 NA seats would be held on March 19. 

The seats fell vacant after the ECP de-notified the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) lawmakers following NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s acceptance of the lawmakers’ resignations.

It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP announced that it will hold by-polls for 33 vacant National Assembly (NA) seats on March 16.

In a bid to set another record, PTI Chairman Imran Khan  announced contesting by-polls on all the 33 NA seats but later on, he backtracked from his decision and decided to field ex-MNAs in their respective constituencies.

Election schedule

According to the election schedule announced by the ECP, candidates will be able to file their nomination papers between February 10-14.

The names of the candidates will be published on February 15 and the returning officers (ROs) will carry out the scrutiny of the nomination papers till February 18.

The last date to file appeals against the RO’s decision on the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers is February 22.

According to the election schedule, the last date for the appellate tribunal to decide on the appeals is February 27. After this, the revised list of candidates will be published on February 28.

The last date to withdraw candidature and release of revised list of candidates is March 1 while the election symbols will be allotted on March 2.