Pakistan Election Commission to decide on polls Monday

By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS

Islamabad : The scheduled Jan 8 polls in Pakistan are likely to be postponed in the aftermath of the murder of Benazir Bhutto and the Election Commission is meeting Monday to take a final decision.


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“The meeting (of the Election Commission) will start at 9:30 a.m. (Monday) at the ECP headquarters in Islamabad to review the situation regarding holding of polls as scheduled,” the official told IANS.

The elections are likely to be postponed as several ECP offices particularly in Sindh, home province of Bhutto, were set on fire, said the official.

Pakistan has been in flames since Thursday when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Bhutto was killed after she addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi. The murder has triggered widespread riots across the county.

The official said that in the last three days, the poll process could not be carried out because of the mourning and violence in the country. Printing of ballot papers was halted.

Elections for the national and four provincial assemblies of Pakistan are scheduled for Jan 8, in which 81 million voters are expected to use their right to elect parliamentarians in the ninth national polls.

The ECP official said that law and order situation was also not very conducive to hold the polls but if all parties agreed and insisted on Jan 8 polls, the ECP will have to work on a war footing to meet the deadline and hold elections as scheduled.

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