ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi in a surprise move on Monday, announced April 9, 2023 as the date for the provincial assemblies’ elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The president in a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan said he had announced the date under Section 57 (1) of the Election Act 2017.
In the letter, the president stated that he had waited anxiously that the commission would realize its constitutional duties to proceed and act accordingly, but he was extremely dismayed by ECP’s poignant approach on this important matter.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in response to President’s invitation had decided not to be part of any consultation with President Dr Arif Alvi regarding announcement of dates for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial.
In a meeting held on Monday, the commission had decided to stay away from any such parleys with the president on provincial assemblies’ polls as the constitution of Pakistan does not allow any such consultation.
The election watchdog in a letter addressed to the Secretary to President has also conveyed the decision. “Since the matter of elections in the provincial assemblies was subjudice the commission could not participate in any parleys with the president,” it said.
Three meetings held to discuss President’s letter.
This was the third consecutive meeting—the earlier two held on February 18 & 19 respectively — to give official response to the President’s ‘invitation’ for consultation on election dates.
A day earlier, too, in a detailed letter sent to the president, the ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan had held that the watchdog after deliberation had directed him to convey that the commission was well aware of its constitutional and legal obligations and had already conveyed its response explaining the complete background.
After due deliberations on President Alvi’s letter inviting CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja for an urgent meeting the watchdog has declined to attend the meeting on the grounds that there was no need to hold meeting with President Alvi as the constitution of Pakistan provides the procedure for announcement of poll date in case of dissolution of the provincial assemblies, it said.
Governors to announce dates
The letter went on to say that the commission, after dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP, had approached the governors of the two provinces for announcing the date as they had not done so while dissolving the legislatures.
According to the letter, the commission has also sought further guidance from the Lahore High Court (LHC), by filing an application and has also challenged the judgment through an intra-court appeal on the ground that the process of consultation with the governor was not provided in the Constitution.
Likewise, a number of writ petitions are also pending with the Peshawar High Court (PHC), seeking directions for appointing a date for holding general elections to the provincial assembly.
For the subject matter at hand, due to the reasons stated above and matter being sub judice at various judicial fora, regrettably the commission may not be able to enter into a process of consultation with the office of the president,” the letter read.
President displeased with ECP
President Arif Alvi in an interview on Sunday had expressed his ‘displeasure’ at the “apathy and inaction” on part of the electoral watchdog for not responding to his earlier invitation.
On the ECP’s stance that only the governors could announce dates for elections, the president had held: “The policy of taking refuge behind various provisions of the constitution for delaying polls should come to an end and a clear timeline be given for polls in the two provinces.”
