ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob Khan on Tuesday said that the commission would start preparations of next general elections-2018 from June-July next year.
Addressing the participants of five-week interpersonal skills and capacity development training programme for ECP officers here, the secretary ECP said that there would be no compromise on credibility and efficiency of election staff.
He said that the training of ECP officers was part of general elections training as in past such trainings were held in near dates to general elections.
However, this time the commission has decided to train its staff well before elections, he added.
He said that training of ECP officers was one aspect of general elections which was being consider seriously and the training of master trainers have been completed, who will further train the officers to improve their professional skills.
He said that unlike past practice, the commission would also start a comprehensive training of election staff for next general elections before announcement of election schedule.
The secretary said that the commission would observe the eligibility and professionalism with regard to deployment of presiding officers in next general elections. He added the ECP would not bear any mistake in this regard.
He said that the ECP would celebrate Voter Day on December 7. He added the commission would arrange different activities on that day in all provinces to encourage voters to register themselves.
He said the ECP was working on electronic voting machines and bio metric system, which would be introduced on trial basis while its working would be monitored.
He appreciated the volunteer service offering of officers of the federal government for general elections and termed this a positive start. He added such officers would have no pressure of provincial governments.
He urged the ECP officers to ensure use of latest technology in their offices and take keen interests in this training to improve their professional skills.
As many as 28 ECP officers from four provinces were participating in this training programme. Around 35 trainers from ECP have been engaged for this training programme.
This five-week long training would cover areas including electoral rolls, election laws, monitoring and evaluation, elections results, conduct of elections and postelection activities.
Besides other senior officers, the event was also attended by Additional secretary ECP Fida Muhammad.
Source: APP
