President Arif Alvi fixes April 30 for polls in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi Friday fixed April 30 as the date for general election to the Punjab Assembly soon after receiving a letter from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) proposing possible dates.  

The Commission also wrote to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor for fixing date for election to the provincial assembly.

Earlier in the day, the Commission wrote a letter to the president proposing April 30 and May 7 as the possible dates for the Punjab Assembly election.

The move came after its consultations over the Supreme Court’s verdict in a suo motu case concerning elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

A statement on the president’s Twitter handle said: “President Dr. Arif Alvi has announced the date of 30th April 2023 (Sunday) for holding the general elections to the provincial assembly of Punjab, after considering dates proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. The ECP had proposed a poll date between April 30 and May 7, 2023, for holding general elections to the provincial assembly of Punjab, and had further suggested holding elections preferably on Sunday”.

The Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and January 18 respectively. Under the law, the elections are to be held within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the elections to the two provincial legislatures should be held within the stipulated period of 90 days. However, the apex court allowed the Election Commission to propose a date that deviates from the 90-day deadline by the ‘barest minimum’, in case of any practical difficulty.

The top court also ruled that President Dr. Arif Alvi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor will appoint dates for elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies respectively in consultation with the Commission. At the end of its third meeting in as many days, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja here, the Commission sent a letter to the president in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, proposing dates from April 30 to May 7, 2023 for elections in the Punjab province.

The meeting was attended by the members as well as senior officers of the Election Commission. “After the selection of the date by the president, the Election Commission is ready to perform its constitutional and legal duties,” a brief statement issued after the meeting says.

Moreover, the Election Commission has also sent a letter to the KP governor stating that in light of the SC order, his response was awaited. The letter, sent to the president, carried the signatures of chief election commissioner, and reproduced the operative part of the apex court order.

“In order to comply with the directions contained in the subject order of the apex court and in line with Section 57 subject to Section 58 of the Elections Act, 2017, the commission, after due deliberation, hereby proposes a poll date between April 30 to May 7, 2023. It further proposed that election date should be given preferably on a Sunday,” he writes.

In the letter to the KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, Secretary ECP Omar Hamid Khan drew his attention to the operative part of the SC order, which reads, “The governor KP province must after consultation with the Election Commission forthwith appoint a date for the holding the general election to the KP Assembly and the preceding clause (a) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in relation thereto”. The secretary informed the governor that the apex court ‘obligates your kind office for appointment of a date for holding the general election to the KP Assembly after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan. The Commission is awaiting your kind response in light of order of the apex court referred herein above’.

Meanwhile, the KP governor has said that he will give date for election to the provincial assembly if the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asked him.

Meanwhile, PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari and JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman Friday met Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the political scenario in the country. The meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s House a few hours after President Arif Alvi announced April 30 as date for election to the Punjab Assembly.

“The two leaders held an important meeting with Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. They discussed the country’s political situation,” a brief statement issued by the Prime Minister House said.

However, sources said the leadership discussed the strategy for the April 30 elections.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Friday welcomed the electoral body’s announcement and called it a ‘step in the right direction.

In a statement, PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry said, “We believe that the ECP took the right step in light of the SC’s order, as the apex court had said in its Wednesday’s order that the president and ECP could go beyond the 90-day period of holding polls but it had also used the word ‘bare minimum”.

He called this development a victory for the PTI, the nation and the Constitution.