President Alvi, interim law minister meet again to discuss elections

President Dr Arif Alvi met with caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam on Monday to discuss upcoming general elections, Aaj News reported.

The meeting was convened at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad as part of ongoing discussions about the electoral process between the president and the interim government.

In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), the president was quoted as stating, "The continuation of the consultation process with good intent will be positive for democracy in the country."

The president and the law minister have met twice this month to discuss the elections.

During his earlier meeting with the law minister, President Arif Alvi stressed the need for decisions to be made in accordance with "the spirit of the Constitution."

President Alvi's second meeting takes place as institutional stakeholders have been unable to agree on an election date.

In an earlier letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the president requested a meeting to "fix an appropriate date" for general elections.

Sikandar Sultan Raja, the CEC, declined President Alvi's request for a date for elections in his response.

He claimed that the ECP alone is responsible for choosing the date of the general elections.

Last week, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said that deciding the date for general elections was the ECP prerogative.

There is concern that the president might announce the election date soon.

The president's decision to announce the election date could lead to complications because the outgoing government altered the Election Act to give the ECP exclusive authority to announce the date of the elections.