President Dr. Arif Alvi on Monday unilaterally fixed April 9 as the date for elections for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhutnkhwa.
In what is being called a controversial move, President Alvi used his powers under Section 57 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017, pushing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections for both provincial assemblies.
Letter to CEC
According to a press release issued by the President Secretariat’s Press Wing, the president, in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), asked the ECP to issue an election program in accordance with Section 57(2) of the Elections Act. The president said that he was under oath to preserve and protect the Constitution and there was no obstruction in using his power and authority to announce the date of the elections after consulting the ECP.
The president further said that the governors of Punjab and K-P as well as the ECP were not performing their constitutional obligations to announce a date for holding polls for the Punjab and K-P assemblies.
“Both the constitutional offices are placing the ball in each other’s court, similar to the old Urdu proverb ‘Pehlay Aap, Naheen Pehlay Aap’ [you first, No, you first], thus, resulting in delay and creating a serious danger that constitutional provisions may be violated,” he added.
CEC declined a meeting with president
The announcement from the presidential office came after the CEC declined president Alvi’s invite for an ‘urgent meeting’ on Monday for consultations on the dates for the elections in Punjab and KPK. ECP, in a letter to the president’s office, maintained that it could not participate in a consultative session with the president regarding the dates of the polls, as the matter was already sub judice in the court of law.
“The commission is well aware of its constitutional and legal obligations and has already conveyed its response to the earlier letter, dated February 8, 2023, explaining the complete background [of the matter],” a letter from the ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan said.
Unconstitutional and illegal
The coalition government condemned and rejected the controversial move calling it “unconstitutional and illegal”
Commenting on the announcement, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the president was “exceeding his limits”, adding that Alvi was doing so on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s wish.
“The president is working as a worker of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He does not have the authority to issue the election date. His action is tantamount to violating the Constitution,” the minister said while addressing the NA session chaired by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Dissolution of KP, Punjab assemblies
The provincial assemblies of K-P and Punjab – the two provinces where PTI was in the government –were dissolved in January on the instructions of Chairman PTI Imran Khan. As per the constitution of Pakistan, new elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of a provincial assembly. However, it has been more than a month since the two provincial assemblies were dissolved and no election date was announced by the two provincial governors, who are constitutionally mandated to do so.