In compliance with the Supreme Court’s (SC) order, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the schedule for the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had earlier confirmed that the election schedule would be announced tonight.

In a notification issued late on Friday, the ECP said the public notice would be issued by the Returning Officers (ROs) on December 19.

The ECP said candidates can file their nomination papers with ROs from December 20 to 22. The list of the nominated candidates would be published on December 23 and the last date for scrutiny of their nomination papers would be from Dec 24-30.

The deadline for filing appeals against the RO’s decisions on rejecting or accepting nomination papers is January 3, 2024, with the last date for deciding the appeals by an appellate tribunal on January 10. The revised list of candidates will be published on Jan 11 and the last date for withdrawing one’s candidature is January 12.

The ECP said election symbols will be allotted to political parties on Jan 13 with polls set for Feb 8.

The electoral watchdog added that the election programme shall also apply to the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the National and provincial assemblies.

“Last date of filling of separate priority list for seats reserved for women and non-Muslims before the ROs is Dec 22,” the notification read.

The development comes hours after the top court ordered the electoral watchdog to announce the election schedule by tonight after it suspended a Lahore High Court order that had stayed the appointment of returning officers and district returning officers from the bureaucracy.