ECP denies from consulting president over Punjab, KP elections

KARACHI – As the case was in court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) excused itself from consulting President Arif Alvi regarding the provincial assembly elections.

In its letter, the Secretary of Elections maintained that the governors were contacted for the election dates in accordance with the Constitution following the dissolution of the Punjab and KP assemblies. It also stated that although the governors had replied to the ECP’s letters, neither had set a date for the elections as of yet. The Punjab governor was consulted on February 14 in accordance with Lahore High Court (LHC) orders, the commission claimed, but he regretted to appoint a poll date and informed that he would avail legal remedy against the judgment of the LHC as it was not binding on him.

“It is clarified that the Constitution does not empower the ECP to appoint a poll date in case of the dissolution of a provincial assembly by the governor or due to afflux of time as provided in Article 112(1) of the Constitution,” the letter highlighted.

Along with other writ petitions that are currently pending in the Peshawar High Court, the ECP also mentioned the intra-court appeals it filed against the order after the LHC requested that it hold the consultation despite the Constitution not having any such provisions. In order to consult on the dates for the elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab, President Alvi on Friday invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to an “urgent meeting” on February 20.