Pakistan's Election Commission on Tuesday announced the schedule for the general election to be held on January 8, but opposition parties said they were mulling a boycott as polls held in a state of emergency would not be free and fair.
"The president has fixed January 8 for elections to the national assembly and provincial assemblies," chief election commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq said on state-run PTV.
"Polling will be transparent from all aspects. It is the constitutional duty of the election commission to conduct polls in a free, transparent and impartial manner."
Farooq said that as part of efforts to ensure free and fair polls, Pakistan has imported voting screens and transparent ballot boxes. The election commission has trained staff to global standards and international observers will be free to visit all polling stations.
He urged political parties to ensure that the election process and campaigning are peaceful and orderly. "Those taking part in the election should cooperate with each other," he said.
Opposition parties like Tehreek-e-Insaf of cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) have already said they will not participate in polls held under emergency.
Most of the opposition parties are now waiting for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party to announce its stance on the polls before deciding whether to boycott the general election.
PML-N chairman Raja Zafrul Haq said, "It will take another two to three days and then (the position of the opposition parties) will be finalised after consultations with the PPP."
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said elections will not be fair and free as long as President Pervez Musharraf remained the army chief and did not end the emergency he had imposed earlier in November.
"The PPP is looking at ways for holding free elections. That is why PPP has demanded that General Musharraf should step down and a neutral caretaker government should be formed," Babar said.
Babar noted that the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), which comprises MMA, PML-N and Tehreek-e-Insaf, would decide its stance in the next few days and Bhutto was in touch with other opposition leaders. The APDM will stage countrywide protests against the emergency on November 23.
According to the schedule announced by the election commission, nominations can be filed from Tuesday till November 26. The nominations will be scrutinised between November 27 and December 3. The last date of appeal against rejected nominations will be December 7 and the appeals will be decided by December 14.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations will be December 15 and the revised list of candidates will be notified on December 16. The election commission said all returning officers and district returning officers had been appointed.
All major opposition parties on Monday boycotted an election commission meeting that finalised a code of conduct for campaigning. Despite pressure from the United States to end the emergency, Musharraf has said the measure is needed to ensure free and fair polls.
