ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has apologized to President Arif Alvi for consulting him regarding the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that the matter is already under judicial consideration.
On Friday, President Alvi called the Election Commissioner for an “urgent meeting” on February 20 (Monday) to discuss the date of the polls, and the ECP’s “strong stance” on the date of the general elections. Criticized.
However, after finding fault with the President’s “choice of words” in the letter, the ECP has now said that he “cannot be involved in the consultation process with the Office of the President as the matter is pending in various courts. .fora” and many other reasons.
The letter issued by the ECP secretary to the president’s secretary said that the electoral body is well aware of its constitutional and legal obligations.
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— Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL) (@ECP_Pakistan) February 19, 2023
“It may be noted that Article 105 read with Article 112 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 provides the procedure for fixing the date of elections in case of dissolution of Provincial Assemblies”.
The ECP secretary told the President’s office that the commission – after the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies – had approached the governors of the two provinces to decide on the date for holding the elections. He said that the governors of Punjab and KP have responded to the letters but the date has not been released yet.
Referring to the Lahore High Court (LHC) directive for the Punjab election date, the letter said that the ECP held a consultative meeting with Punjab Baligh-ur-Rehman as per the orders but the latter expressed his intention to litigate against the decision. What did It was not binding on him.
“The ECP secretary informed the President’s office that the commission had sought further guidance from the High Court through a separate petition, challenging its order through a separate intra-court appeal “on the ground that the Governor’s A consultation process is not provided for in the Constitution”.
Additionally, three writ petitions were also filed in the Peshawar High Court, seeking to fix a date for holding general elections in KP.
The letter clarified that the Constitution does not empower the Election Commission to fix the date of elections in case of dissolution of the Provincial Assembly by the Governor or because of the time limit provided in Article 112(1) of the Constitution. Read on
