by Iftikhar A. Khan in Dawn, September 23rd, 2023
ISLAMABAD: With criticism growing over the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) failure to announce a specific date for
general elections, a senior ECP official told Dawn on Friday that it was “not technically possible” to do so.
The official, who asked not to be named, argued that the official announcement of an election date will kick-start a formal
process that must follow specific timelines in the lead-up to the election.
Elaborating on this justification, the official said that under Section 57 of the Elections Act, the announcement of a polling
date should be followed by issuing an election schedule, which sets the entire electoral cycle in motion.
This ‘cycle’ involves the filing of nomination papers, their scrutiny, and decisions and appeals on their acceptance or
rejection. Each step has to be completed under a set timeline.
Separately, PATTAN and Coalition38 — a body of more than 150 civil society organisations and labour unions — issued a joint
statement regretting that the ECP had further deepened the prevailing uncertainty by giving an extremely vague statement about
the next general elections.
They said the ECP’s statement was violative of Article 48(5a) of the Constitution, which binds the president to announce a date
for general elections within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly.
They also regretted “with deep anguish” that the ECP had eroded its credibility and the public’s trust by taking u-turns and
violating the orders of the superior courts.
The statement noted that the ECP had previously refused to hold general elections for the Punjab and KP assemblies on May 14
and had also cancelled local government elections for the Islamabad Capital Territory when polling was to take place in three
days. The ECP had thereby violated its own goals set under the Fourth Strategic Plan and Sections 94 and 103 of the Elections
Act, 2017, their statement read. ….
Separately, the ECP official interviewed by Dawn defended the ECP’s decision to go for fresh delimitation before elections,
insisting that it was taken “after thoroughly examining the law and the Constitution, as well as relevant judgments of the
superior judiciary.”
Ruling out the possibility of the delimitation exercise being abandoned midway, he pointed out that elections before November 7
are no longer possible even if the exercise is stopped and a polling schedule is issued forthwith.
The official was, however, more circumspect while answering a question on the possibility of an intervention by the superior
judiciary. He said the Commission would be ready to hold elections based on the previous delimitation if the Supreme Court so
ordered.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1777386
