Justice Jawad Hassan of the Lahore High Court (LHC) stated on Monday that elections must be held within ninety days of the dissolution of an assembly, pledging to “fight for democracy.”
Asad Umar, Secretary General of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had filed a petition seeking direction from the relevant authorities regarding the announcement of the election date for the Punjab Assembly.
PTI’s attorney, Barrister Ali Zafar, asked the court to order Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to announce the election date.
Justice Jawad Hassan agreed with the timeline for holding the election. Still, he stated that “the question is who is announcing them” and ordered the PTI to add the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to the case.
The attorney for the PTI complied while arguing that although the ECP had written to the governor, he had not yet responded to the electoral watchdog. “The ECP stands with us on this issue,” he said.
Inviting the attorney for the governor to the podium, the court inquired about his position on the delay; however, the attorney requested time to prepare his case.
The judge, disturbed by the attorney’s response, remarked that the defendant did not appear to take the matter seriously.
Justice Jawad noted that “a significant legal issue has been raised in the PTI’s application” and issued notices to the Governor of Punjab and the ECP requesting their responses by February 3.
It should be noted that the ECP sent letters to the provincial governors of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab earlier this month with proposed election dates for provincial assemblies.
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