Election Commission of Pakistan sticks to its guns on President Dr Arif Alvi’s invitation to meeting on elections
ISLAMABAD, Feb 20 (SABAH): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) persisted with its decision to not attend an urgent meeting called by President Dr. Arif Alvi to discuss elections on Monday at the presidency.
Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja took the final decision on Monday in a consultative meeting attended by the ECP top officials. The meeting discussed various aspects to decide whether the election officials should accept the invitation to the president’s meeting.
A letter from the ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan stated that the ECP meeting “decided that the matter being subjudice, the Commission cannot participate in a meeting on the subject matter with the Office of the President”.
The ECP is of the view that it can’t attend the meeting as the matters related to elections in Punjab and Khyber Paktunkhwa are being heard by various courts across the country.
An uncertainty prevails over elections in both provinces, where assemblies were dissolved in January last, as the top election body and governors are reluctant to announce a date for the polls. Earlier this month, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the ECP to hold consultation with Punjab Governor Engineer Mian Muhammad Balighur Rehman and announce a date for the elections. It also ruled that the polls should be held within 90 days.
After no headway in the ECP and governor meeting took place, President Dr. Arif Alvi sent a letter to the electoral body, inviting the CEC to a meeting to discuss elections.
In reply, the ECP sent a letter to the president on Sunday, stating that “the commission may not be able to enter into a process of consultation with the presidency as the matter was subjudice at various judicial fora.” The ECP letter, bearing the signatures of ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan, stated the final decision would be taken on Monday.
It noted that the Constitution did not empower the ECP to fix a date for a general election to an assembly in case of dissolution. The ECP pointed out that after dissolution of both provincial assemblies, the commission approached governors of both provinces for appointment of a date for elections.
The letter maintained that the ECP delegation approached the governor of Punjab for appointment of poll date but the governor refrained from providing an election date. The letter concluded that the commission had utmost respect for the President’s office.
It may be noted that President Alvi had invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for an ‘urgent meeting’ on February 20 for consultations on the dates for the polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab.
The meeting was scheduled to take place at Aiwan-e-Sadr in accordance with Section 57(1) of the Elections Act, 2017, which provides that the president is entrusted to announce the date for the polls after consulting the ECP.
“The commission is well aware of its constitutional and legal obligations and has already conveyed its response to the earlier letter, dated February 8, 2023, explaining the complete background [of the matter],” stated the letter penned by Secretary ECP Omar Hamid Khan.
The electoral watchdog maintained that after the dissolution of the Punjab and K-P assemblies, the governors were approached for the appointment of election dates as per the dictates of the Constitution.
It added that while the governors have responded to the letters sent by the ECP, neither has thus far announced a date for the polls.
In compliance with the Lahore High Court (LHC) orders, the commission said, a consultation was held with the Punjab governor on February 14, but he “regretted to appoint a poll date and informed that he would avail legal remedy against the judgment of the LHC as it was not binding on him”.