Pakistan President unilaterally proposes November 6 as date for common elections

Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Wednesday unilaterally proposed November 6 because the date for the final elections in a letter written to the chief election commissioner, amidst controversy over polling dates within the cash-strapped nation.

In his letter to CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja, President Alvi cited Article 48(5) of Pakistan’s Constitution, which he mentioned: “empowers and mandates the president ‘to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of the dissolution, for the holding of a general election to the Assembly’”.

Hence, “in terms of Article 48(5), the general election to the National Assembly should be held by the 89th day of the date of dissolution of the National Assembly, i.e. Monday, 6th day of November 2023”, wrote Alvi, who was a founding member of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Alvi wrote that “in an endeavour to fulfil the constitutional obligations, the chief election commissioner was invited for a gathering to plan the modalities of implementing the constitutional intent and mandate”.

However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) chief turned down the invitation by saying that the president had nothing to do with the election date.

Alvi in his letter alluded to Raja’s response, saying that the CEC “took a contrary view that as per the scheme of the Constitution and framework of electoral laws, it was the domain of the Election Commission, and following the publication of last preceding census on August 7, duly notified delimitation of constituencies was in progress, a mandatory requirement stipulated by Article 51(5) of the Constitution and section 17 of the Elections Act, 2017”.

Interestingly, President Alvi’s five-year time period ended final week. Under the Constitution, he’ll proceed to function head of state till the subsequent presidential elections, which can happen after common polls within the nation.

The growth comes two days after President Alvi met with the caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam on Monday to debate the elections.

The National Assembly was dissolved on August 9 making it necessary to carry elections inside 90 days. However, the earlier authorities, simply days earlier than the top of its time period, endorsed the outcomes of the countrywide census.

The choice made it necessary for the election fee to plan new electoral districts earlier than elections for which it has been offered 120 days by the structure of the nation.

The ECP has introduced to finish the delimitation course of by November 30 after which announce election schedules that are anticipated to be held in January. However, the president and a few political events insist that the elections ought to be held inside 90 days.

There is one other controversy because the president insists that he acquired the powers below the Constitution to set a date for elections which is disputed by many together with the ECP. The counterargument is that he misplaced energy to set a date after tweaks in election legal guidelines by the earlier authorities and now the ECP is empowered to set a date.

Published On:

Sep 13, 2023