ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election regulator on Sunday denied issuing a schedule for the upcoming national election, which are slated to be held on February 8, Pakistani state media reported.
The statement by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) came in response to the emergence of an election schedule on social media, with an ECP spokesperson expressing concern over dissemination of “false” information about the polls by a section of local media.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan has denounced the election schedule circulating on social media as fake,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported, citing an ECP spokesperson.
“No official schedule has been issued so far.”
The development comes days after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said the schedule for the upcoming elections would be issued “in few days,” assuring the masses that February 8 would be the polling day.
Elections in the South Asian country were originally expected to take place in November after Pakistan’s national and two provincial assemblies were dissolved in August before reaching the end of their tenure.
However, the ECP decided to redraw hundreds of national and provincial constituencies based on a digital census carried out in April, before arranging the electoral contest.
As Pakistan gears up for the elections, many analysts expect the polls to lead the South Asian country to some stability after more than a year of political turmoil, following the ouster of ex-prime minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022.
Last week, Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi also said the interim federal cabinet did not have any “second thoughts” about holding the polls on February 8.
