Islamabad: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali and called for early elections to ‘avoid complications’ in the province.
The President summoned the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the President’s House to discuss the issues related to the conduct of elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
صدر مملکت ڈاکٹر عارف علوی کی دعوت پر گورنر خیبرپختونخوا حاجی غلام علی کی ایوان صدر میں صدر مملکت سے ملاقات
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) March 14, 2023
صدر مملکت اور گورنر خیبر پختونخواہ کا عام انتخابات کے انعقاد سے متعلق امور پر تبادلہ خیال pic.twitter.com/jAOdUCJqBC
The President highlighted the issue in the light of Article 224(2) of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment of March 1, when the apex court declared that elections in Punjab and KP should be held within a fixed period of 90 days.
Alvi advised the governor to implement the Supreme Court’s order regarding the date of elections after consulting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
He added that two weeks had passed since the Supreme Court’s verdict and urged the K-P governor to announce the date for the polls to “avoid complications” and “uphold the constitution”.
“Timely elections were mandated by the constitution and confirmed by the Supreme Court,” Alvi reiterated, adding that timely elections are essential to strengthen parliamentary democracy in the country.
It is noteworthy that the date of elections in Punjab has been fixed on April 30, however, KP has not announced the election date yet.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered that President Arif Alvi should announce the date of the Punjab Assembly elections, while the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will decide the date of the Provincial Assembly elections in consultation with the ECP.
After hearing for two days, the five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court gave a separate decision of 3-2 on the automatic notice case related to the elections of the two provincial assemblies.
