President Dr. Arif Alvi demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) immediately announce the election schedule for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, failing which it would be held accountable for violating the Constitution.
President Alvi advised in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja, per a press release from the President’s Secretariat.
The president reminded the CEC that Article 224(2) mandates that if an assembly has been dissolved early, elections must be held within 90 days. ECP’s primary responsibility, he continued, was to organize and hold elections.
The president warned the ECP, “Therefore, it is ultimately the Commission, which, if it fails to carry out its functions and duties, is to be held responsible and answerable for the violation of our Constitution.”.
President Alvi reminded the members of the CEC and the ECP about their fundamental duty as per their oath under Article 214 and the Third Schedule of the Constitution, referring to his oath of protecting and defending the Constitution.
To avoid serious consequences of Constitutional and legal violations, Dr. Alvi reminded the ECP chief and members to announce the election date.
The president also emphasized that “even during wars, the oldest democracies never delayed elections.”. He cited James Madison and Abraham Lincoln as former US presidents who conducted elections while their nation was at war.
“I am of the firm opinion that no such circumstances may provide any justification for delaying or postponing elections. If such postponements of constitutionally mandated elections are evaluated worldwide in recent history, they have morphed into serious long-term setbacks to democracy,” said Dr. Alvi.
To stop “dangerous speculative propaganda” for the upcoming and future general elections, President Alvi praised the ECP for announcing by-elections for the vacant National Assembly seats. However, he also requested that the organization issue an election schedule immediately.
Following Imran Khan’s attack on the two provincial assemblies like a wrecking ball to force the government to call snap elections, interim regimes have taken hold in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, there is still no certainty when elections will occur.
Discussions largely focused on the potential for a poll postponement have already started producing material for arguments about Pakistan’s political future.
By the Pakistani Constitution, elections for a dissolved assembly must be held within 90 days.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has harshly criticized the provinces’ governors for failing to approve a date for the elections. The Punjabi governor, Baligh Ur Rehman, and the KP governor, Haji Ghulam Ali.
 immediately announce the election schedule for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, failing which it would be held accountable for violating the Constitution.){kind=link}