NCP, 143 other parties fail to qualify in EC’s initial scrutiny

All the 144 new political parties seeking registration with the Election Commission (EC) have failed to go past the first checkpost in the application review process by providing erroneous or missing data, EC Additional Secretary KM Ali Newaz said Tuesday.

The EC would send letters to all the parties, asking them to correct their applications within 15 working days.

The EC would send letters to 62 parties in the first phase. It would send letters to the remaining 82 parties, including NCP, in the second phase.

In the initial review stage, the EC reviews application documents of an aspirant party to verify if it complies with the required regulations – at least on paper. The existing regulations are deemed too "strict and authoritative" for new parties.

In the second stage, the EC conducts field visits. In the third and final stage, the EC asks for any complaints and grievances, holds hearings on the potential grievances, and, finally, gives the final certification upon settlement of all issues.