Calls for maturity

This refers to the news report ‘ECP tells SC fixing polls date not courts’ mandate’ (May 4). The ECP has also requested the SC to review its April 4 decision which binds the government to hold elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14. This request has merit. With over two dozen constitutional amendments already made, perhaps this was another area where parliament had failed to foresee the conflicting situation emerging as a result of the premature dissolution of some assemblies. If assemblies with five-year terms are elected in the case of premature dissolution, this will mean that in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – with 73 per cent of the total Pakistani population – elections for the National Assembly will be conducted by the provincial governments that have yet to complete their five-year terms.

I think in such a confused situation, it would be best to find a way to let the April 4 decision just fizzle out in the national interest, and general elections should be held around October throughout Pakistan for all assemblies.

SRH Hashmi

Karachi