ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi has announced general elections in Punjab on April 30, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) proposed dates for the elections in the province as directed by the Supreme Court (SC). Election date has been announced.
“President Dr. Arif Alvi has announced the date of 30th April 2023 (Sunday) for holding general elections to Punjab Provincial Assembly,” the President’s Office tweeted on Friday.
Dr Alvi’s office said the president took the decision after “considering the dates recommended by the Election Commission of Pakistan”.
He announced the date after considering dates proposed by Election Commission of Pakistan. ECP had proposed poll date between 30 April to 7 May 2023 for holding general elections of Provincial Assembly of Punjab, and had further suggested to hold elections preferably on Sunday.
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) March 3, 2023
Earlier today, the ECP, in a letter to President Alvi, had recommended that provincial assembly elections be held in Punjab between April 30 and May 7.
A meeting of the Election Commission was held today under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja – the third meeting in a row.
The letter said that the Commission is ready to fulfill its constitutional and legal obligations after the date is selected by the President.
However, in a letter to Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ghulam Ali, the commission said it was awaiting his reply in light of the Supreme Court’s order.
The Punjab and KP Assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and January 18, respectively, and by law elections were to be held within 90 days of their dissolution.
However, after the governors refused to fix the date for the polls, the matter reached the Supreme Court which directed the President to announce the date for the polls in consultation with the commission.
He also ordered the KP Governor to give the election date.
‘Step in the right direction’
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf welcomed the development and praised the ECP for taking a “step in the right direction”.
In a video statement, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the Supreme Court in its order had allowed the President and the ECP to go beyond the 90-day deadline but used the word ‘bare minimum’. was, which means that the expansion should be as small as possible.”
الیکشن کمیشن کے انتخابات کی تاریخ دینے پر تحریک انصاف کا رد عمل pic.twitter.com/FXgNiQVQd7
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 3, 2023
“We believe that the ECP has taken a step in the right direction and the President will now announce the date for the elections.”
While congratulating the nation on the progress, Fawad said that this is a victory of PTI, the nation and the constitution of Pakistan.
Supreme Court order
The apex court, in its judgment on March 1, noted that in “normal circumstances” the elections should have been held on April 9 as announced by the President.
“However, we are informed that due to the delay in the emergence of a date for the holding of general elections, it may not be possible to meet the 90-day deadline set by the Constitution.
“It is also the case that (possibly due to misunderstanding of law) the Election Commission did not make itself available for consultation under Section 57(1) of the 2017 Act,” the court order read.
“The Election Commission is therefore directed to use its best endeavors, keeping in mind Sections 57 and 58 of the Act of 2017, to prescribe forthwith, a date for the President to meet the said deadline. According to
“If such a course is not available, the Election Commission shall likewise recommend a date for holding the referendum which deviates least from the said deadline. The President shall announce a date after consultation with the Election Commission.” for conducting general elections to the Punjab Assembly,” he further directed.
In the decision regarding the elections in KP, the governor was directed to announce the date of the elections after consulting the ECP.
