Pak Court Orders Poll Body To Issue February 8 General Election Schedule

The schedule for Pakistan's general elections on February 8 has been issued, hours after the Supreme Court quashed a lower court's decision which could have delayed the much-awaited polls. The election schedule was issued on Friday night by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), within hours after the Supreme Court quashed a decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to suspend the appointment of officials from the bureaucracy to oversee the elections in defiance of the apex court's orders.

The LHC's verdict was issued on a petition filed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — the same party that had called for timely polls in a plea filed in the Supreme Court.

Due to the LHC's order, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja met with senior officials on Friday to ensure that everything went according to plan.