ISLAMBAD: Pakistan’s election regulator said on Thursday it had completed training a staff of over half a million personnel for election duties, as the South Asian country heads to the polls next month.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on December 17 resumed training returning officers and district returning officers after the apex court directed the polls regulator to do so.
“The necessary training of 579,191 election personnel for the upcoming polls by the Election Commission of Pakistan has been successfully completed,” the ECP said in a statement.
It said training for the remaining 406,222 staffers would be completed by February 1, 2024. The election regulator said it had started training an election staff of 985,413 comprising district returning officers, returning officers, presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and others in November 2023.
The ECP warned government employees who remained absent during the training of “strict disciplinary action.”
“Hence, all civil servants assigned electoral duties during the general elections have been directed to ensure their attendance at the training sessions,” the ECP said.
The election oversight body said its fully operational central control room has been actively addressing complaints since last month. It added that under the central control room, 180 control rooms have been activated at the provincial, divisional, and district levels for election monitoring and prompt resolution of issues.
A caretaker government under interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is running the country until the national election is held on February 8.
