ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on Wednesday night that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be held on October 30 – the same date as the Punjab elections.
In a notification, the polling authority said: “… the Election Commission of Pakistan has notified 8 October 2023 as the polling date for the general election of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Election Act 2017 should be promulgated in due course.” will
The KP Governor had earlier suggested May 28 as the date for the polls, but later, citing security concerns, he asked the Election Commission to hold those polls on October 8.
The development will not sit well with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as it has already opposed delaying the Punjab elections, while the federal government has welcomed the postponement.
President Arif Alvi had given the date of April 30 after the order of the Supreme Court. However, on 22 March, the ECP postponed the upcoming elections citing security reasons behind the change of plan.
Amid the setback, the PTI – which had dissolved both assemblies in January to hold early elections – approached the Supreme Court and a five-member bench including Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial is hearing the case. Is.
The ECP’s decision to withdraw its earlier announcement for the Punjab elections came after security and financial institutions refused to support the commission during the upcoming elections.
‘The Beauty of Democracy’
The PTI claims the government is running away from the polls because it fears defeat, but the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has denied the claim, saying it is always ready to contest.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan repeatedly alleged that key government figures were involved in the assassination attempt on his life and claimed that he was resorting to measures to clear the way for elections.
“What is happening is that the government is afraid of the elections. They are afraid that we are going to win the elections. So they are trying everything possible to derail me,” he said in an interview.
However, regarding the delay in the elections, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif justified the decision of the electoral body and said that this decision has been taken keeping in mind the revival of terrorism in the country.
Addressing a joint session of Parliament earlier this week, he said that no political party can run away from elections because elections are the beauty of democracy.
Issue
In November last year, the PTI chairman announced the dissolution of the KP and Punjab assemblies, and after much back and forth, the legislative assemblies were dissolved in January – on January 14 in Punjab and January 18 in K. P.
Then came the stage of announcing election dates and the governors of both the provinces were reluctant to release the dates until the Supreme Court order on March 1 – directed President Arif Alvi to announce the dates for Punjab elections and Ali for KP. Announce the
After the announcement of the dates, the ECP consulted the provincial and federal authorities, and did not get a favorable response, as the authorities refused to support the election watchdog.
Citing its responsibility to ensure fair elections in the country, the Election Organizing Authority, in a notification, outlined its various efforts to ensure that the commission discharges its responsibilities diligently.
