Governor Punjab says since provincial assembly not dissolved on his orders, under the Constitution he was not authorised to give an election date
LAHORE, Feb 14 (SABAH): Governor Punjab Engineer Mian Muhammad Balighur Rehman decided on Tuesday to approach the Lahore High Court (LHC) to seek clarity over his role in the consultative process for the election date in the province.
In a statement, issued after a meeting was held on the LHC’s directives to finalise the date for the election, Mian Balighur Rehman’s spokesperson said that there were some issues in the high court’s order that required “clarification and interpretation”.
“After consultation with legal and constitutional experts, the matter will be referred to the court,” said the spokesperson after meeting an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delegation.
A three-member ECP delegation, headed by the secretary of the commission, had called on the governor on the orders of Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Sikander Sultan Raja.
The meeting concluded with the remarks that some matters, including some aspects of the consultative role of the governor in the Lahore High Court’s decision, require clarification and interpretation for which the court would be approached after consultation with legal and constitutional experts.
The meeting was attended by the ECP Secretary Umar Hamid Khan, Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Principal Secretary to Governor Barrister Nabil Awan, Special Secretary to Governor Umar Saeed, ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal, ECP Director General (Law) Muhammad Arshad Khan, ECP Additional Director General Syed Nadeem Haider, ECP Deputy Director Coordinator Muhammad Nasir Khan, ECP Director Abdul Hameed, Deputy Director Huda Ali Gohar and Inspector General of Police Punjab Dr Usman.
In a handout released after the meeting with Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman, the electoral watchdog quoted the governor as saying that since the provincial assembly was not dissolved on his orders, under the Constitution he was not authorised to give an election date.
According to the press release, the governor further told the ECP that his proposal would not be binding on the commission in such a situation.
The press release further said that the governor did not want to take any extra-constitutional step and thus refrained from giving a date for provincial elections. The commission would now brief the electoral body on its meeting with the governor.
Meanwhile Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja has called a consultative meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the general election of the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today (Wednesday) at the Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat, in Islamabad.
The meeting will discuss the way forward for general elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies.
A day earlier, ECP, in a meeting chaired by the CEC, had decided to consult the Punjab governor over the date for the general elections in Punjab as per an LHC order.
The ECP had said that the meeting discussed the LHC judgment on the general polls in Punjab.
“As per the honourable court’s order, the election commission has requested the Punjab governor to hold a meeting on February 14 to consult on the date for the general elections for the Punjab Assembly,” the statement had said.
The ECP meeting was held following the verdict that was issued by the LHC last week.
The high court had directed the ECP to ensure that polls in Punjab are held within 90 days.
Announcing the reserved verdict, Justice Jawad Hassan accepted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea and asked the electoral body to stage the polls within the constitutional limit.
The PTI moved the high court after repeatedly demanding that the election commission issue the dates for the elections in Punjab. The party dissolved the provincial assembly on January 14.
“…the ECP is directed to immediately announce the date of election of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab with the notification specifying reasons, after consultation with the Governor of Punjab, being the constitutional Head of the Province, to ensure that the elections are held not later than ninety days as per the mandate of the Constitution,” the judgment read.