ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi called Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Friday for an emergency meeting on February 20 (Monday) to declare the schedule for new general elections.
According to an official statement issued by the President’s Office, the meeting will focus on consultation under Section 57(1) of the Elections Act of 2017, which states that the president must “announce the date or dates of the general elections after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).”
The president voiced his unhappiness with the ECP’s apparent “indifference” and passivity in the subject in his letter to the CEC, noting that his letter of February 8 had gotten no response.
The statement stated that significant events had occurred since his letter, including the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to guarantee that elections in Punjab be conducted within 90 days and recent Supreme Court (SC) opinions mandating that the LHC’s directives be executed.
The president had “waited impatiently” for the commission to recognise its constitutional obligations and act properly, according to the statement, but he was deeply disappointed by ECP’s emotional attitude to this critical topic.
The president reminded the ECP in his letter that he was “conscious of his constitutional responsibility of preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution,” and thus invited the CEC to an urgent meeting in his office on 20th February 2023 to consult on the date or dates of the general elections.
It should be recalled that President Alvi wrote to the ECP on February 8 encouraging him to guarantee that both provincial and national general elections are conducted within the legally allowed time frame.
“Recent international history demonstrates that delays undermine democracy in the long term,” the Presidential Office said at the time.
It is worth noting that the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissolved the Punjab and KP legislatures on January 14 and 18, respectively.
Related posts:
NAB cases: IHC re-hears corruption references against Zardari
Fawad asserts that the Islamabad sit-in has been granted authorization
In Quetta, police broke up a sit-in by young physicians, arresting around 15 of them.
President writes to CJP requesting the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the ‘Regime Change Conspiracy’
A bomb in Karachi killed one person and injured several more
According to the government, Imran spent approximately Rs 1 billion on daily helicopter travel.
Hafizabad police have arrested a suspect in the Shahbaz Gill disaster
Nusrat Wahid, a PTI MNA, claimed PPP offered Rs160 million.
Gold prices have risen by Rs 150 to Rs 131,350 per tola.
Pakistan has reported 80 COVID-19 cases, with no deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Karachi blast is noticed by Rana Sanaullah
Finland’s parliament has voted in favour of NATO membership