The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the schedule for by-elections on 31 vacant seats of the National Assembly. Polls will be held on Sunday, March 19. The ECP said candidates can submit their nomination papers from February 10 to February 14. Scrutiny of nomination papers filed by candidates will be held on February 18. Election symbols will be allotted to candidates on March 2. Earlier, in the day, a private TV channel reported that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided that its chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan will not be participating in the by-elections. The NA seats had been vacated after National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted the en masse resignations of PTI members. All 140 national assembly members from Imran Khan’s party had submitted their resignations last year after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led rainbow coalition ousted Imran from Prime Minister office through a constitutional vote of no confidence.