Election date: ECP requests Punjab governor to hold meeting today

ISLAMABAD: Following the Lahore High Court’s verdict which directed to hold the provincial assembly of Punjab’s elections within 90 days, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday requested the Punjab governor for a meeting to discuss the matter in order to finalise election date.

A meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja comprising Secretary ECP Umer Hameed and other senior officials and members discussed the implementation of the LHC’s order.

A statement issued by the ECP after the meeting said that the commission has requested Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to schedule a meeting on Tuesday (Feb 14) to discuss the date for provincial elections.

The commission said it had written a letter to Governor Rehman to suggest an appropriate time for February 14 meeting so that the court orders for holding the elections in Punjab could be held.

It added that the electoral body had appointed the ECP secretary to head the discussions with the governor, along with ECP special secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain and Director General (Law) Mohammad Arshad.

The designated ECP team would then brief the commission about the talks so that it could decide on the future strategy for conducting polls in the province.

The provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI was in power, had dissolved both the assemblies on January 14 and January 18, respectively, in a bid to pave the way for snap polls in the country.

On January 24, the ECP wrote letters to the principal secretaries of Punjab and the KP governors, suggesting elections in Punjab between April 9 and 13, and in KP between April 15 and 17.

The PTI had on January 27 approached the LHC seeking orders for the Punjab governor to immediately announce a date for an election in the province.

The LHC had subsequently, directed the ECP to immediately announce the date for elections after consultation with the governor, in his capacity as the constitutional head of the province.

President Arif Alvi had also urged the ECP on February 8 to “immediately announce” the date for polls in KP and Punjab and put an end to “dangerous speculative propaganda” on both the provincial assembly and general elections. However, so far, the governors of the two provinces have refrained from providing any date for the polls on several pretexts.

Last week, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali met his Punjab counterpart Rehman and agreed that the country could not afford separate elections in the current circumstances and, therefore, polls for national and provincial assemblies should be held later this year after the completion of the federal government’s tenure in August.

“Pakistan can’t afford two separate elections as billions of rupees will be spent on the exercise,” the Punjab governor had told reporters after the meeting. “As the general elections are going to take place later this year, demand for an early election in two provinces seems out of place keeping in view economic woes of the country.”

He had also hinted at a possible delay in polls, saying political forces should focus on finding solutions to fix the financial and security situation and not the elections.

The government’s intention not to hold polls in the two provinces within 90 days has added to the PTI’s frustration which has linked its “Jail Bharo Tehreek” with the inordinate delay.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023