Pak's election commission announces Punjab poll on May 14 as directed by SC

Pakistan's election watchdog on Wednesday announced that it will hold the polls in the politically crucial Punjab province on May 14 as directed by the Supreme Court a day earlier.

A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday fixed May 14 as the new date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, as it quashed the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to October 8.

As per the schedule announced by the election commission on Wednesday, polling for elections in Punjab will be held on May 14. The last date for filing an appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer regarding the nomination papers will be April 10.

"The ECP hereby recalls its notification of even number dated March 22, 2023 and in partial modification to this commission's notification of March 8, 2023 hereby revises the following stages of the election programme for the conduct of general elections to the provincial assembly of Punjab," the Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing the revised notification.

According to the revised schedule, the election tribunal will decide on the appeals by April 17, and the last date for publishing the new list of candidates will be April 18.

The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers will be April 19 and election symbols will be allotted to the candidates on April 20.

The development comes just a day after the apex court declared as unconstitutional the ECP's earlier decision to postpone elections in Punjab, in a major blow to the federal government that has been trying to delay the election citing security issues and the economic crisis.