The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is considering holding provincial assembly polls and by-elections after Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appointed caretaker chief ministers.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan chaired a session where the ECP announced that electoral material, polling locations, and voter lists were ready.
The electoral board also stated that provincial assembly elections would be held after their dissolution. The meeting decided to contact Punjab and KP governors to set the polling dates. The ECP released the election timetable following polling day.
The meeting was instructed to expedite election preparations and presiding officer and election worker appointments.
The electoral commission, provincial election commissioners, and all ECP officials attended the session.
The KP administration and opposition nominated former bureaucrat Azam Khan as interim chief minister after the KP and Punjab parliament were dissolved. In Punjab, the opposition-government panel failed to agree on a caretaker chief minister.
The ECP appointed Punjab caretaker chief minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as per the process.
Since both provinces have caretaker chief ministers, the ECP must hold provincial elections within 90 days.
Because it must review candidate nomination papers for at least 22 days, the electoral authority can hold polls within 22 to 45 days.
Election campaigns will last 29–30 days. Given this timeframe, the ECP may hold elections between March 1 and April 10.
The nominees will serve as interim CM until a new provincial administration is formed.
