PTI to move SC if KP polls date not given

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter has decided to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan and submit a contempt petition against Governor Ghulam Ali in case he didn’t give a date for the election in the province during his meeting with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delegation today (Tuesday).

The PTI leadership held a meeting in Zaman Park, Lahore on Monday and took note of the alleged delaying tactics employed by Governor Ghulam Ali by constantly trying to avoid giving the date for the elections.

“Should Governor KP (Ghulam Ali) not announce a date for KP elections, violating the Constitution and his constitutional duties, putting the very rights of KP within the federation at stake; PTI through speaker Mushtaq Ghani will immediately go into contempt against the governor. The contempt petition is ready and will be submitted on Wednesday if a date is not announced tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Taimur Jhagra, a former finance and health.

He said the ECP team is due to meet Ghulam Ali, the second time since he assumed his office, to discuss a date for the elections. The governor in his very first press conference held at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat had said a date for the elections would be announced after consulting all stakeholders.

There is mounting pressure on Governor Ghulam Ali from PTI leadership to obey the court order and give a date for the elections. President Arif Alvi has already announced the date of the election for Punjab but Governor Ghulam Ali is yet to fulfill his constitutional responsibility in this regard.

He was expected to announce it in his first meeting with the ECP delegation that called on him last week, but he didn’t. The security situation is primarily stated to be a matter of concern for the government to hold the elections in KP.

The PTI leadership, however, rejected this plea, saying the security situation in KP was far better than it was in the past, particularly in 2013 and 2018, but even then elections were neither delayed nor postponed.

The party leadership believes that certain political parties, including the ruling coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, of which Governor Ghulam Ali’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F is a part, were scared of PTI’s popularity and were unable to face the party in the elections.

Taimur Jhagra said frustration among the people and particularly the PTI workers was rising due to the failure of the governor to announce election date in KP. In this regard, he said the party leadership has decided in a meeting in Lahore to approach the apex court on Wednesday through the speaker of the provincial assembly, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani in case Governor Ghulam Ali failed in giving a date for the polls in KP on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken a suo moto notice of not holding the elections in KP and Punjab. The court had directed the governor to fulfill his constitutional responsibility by giving a proper date so the ECP can hold the polls.

Mushtaq Ghani has drafted the petition for initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, under Article 204 of the Constitution, together with Section 3 of the contempt of court ordinances 2023.