ISLAMABAD: TheElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has appointed newprovincial election commissioners in Sindh andBalochistan with immediate effect, The News reported on Tuesday.
The development comes just days ahead of the expected announcement of the schedule for general elections which are set to take place on February 8 next year.
The electoral body, according to a notification, transferred and postedAijaz Anwer Chohan as provincialelection commissioner Balochistan in place of Sharifullah who will now assume his charge in Sindh for the same post.
The transfer and posting of bothprovincial election commissioners was approved byChief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The decision, according to ECP, has been taken in the public interest.
"The postings and transfers of following officers under the ECP are made in public interest with immediate effect and until further orders," the notification says.
It is pertinent to note that MQM-P had demanded the removal ofAijaz Anwer Chohan, saying free and fair elections were not possible under his supervision.
Meanwhile, the electoral body also issued a notification of the appointment of district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs) for the general polls, an ECP spokesperson wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“In pursuance of the provisions of Section 50 of the Elections Act, 2012 (Act No. XXX|ll of 2017), the Election Commission of Pakistan publishes herewith, for general information, a list of District Returning Officers appointed for the District noted against them in connection with the conduct of General Elections-2024 to the Constituencies of the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies falling within their administrative jurisdiction,” a notification by the ECP read.
Thirty-six DROs have been appointed for the National Assembly elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 41 in Punjab, 30 in Sindh, 36 in Balochistan, and one in Islamabad.
Forty-five ROs have been notified for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three in Islamabad, 141 in Punjab, 60 in Sindh and 15 in Balochistan.
For the provincial assembly elections, 155 ROs and AROs have been notified in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 297 in Punjab, 130 in Sindh, and 51 in Balochistan.
The notified officers have been directed to assume their responsibilities immediately.
According to the notification, the political parties contesting the elections to the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims to the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan will file separate lists of their candidates in order of priority with the respective returning officers by the last date of the filing of nomination papers as per the election programme.