President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday announced to hold polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab on April 9. Amid a postponement from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over the assertion of an election date, the president took the matter into his own hands.
The president announced the date by exercising his power under Section 57 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017. Moreover, he asked the electoral body to issue an election programme according to Section 57 (2) of the Act.
The president had summoned Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for a pressing meeting on February 20 for consultation concerning the date of the poll as he lambasted him over ECP’s poignant approach regarding the general election date.
However, the election commission had excused itself from holding consultations with President Alvi for the time being, pronouncing that the matter was already under judicial consideration.
The president also stated that he had felt it vital to carry out his constitutional and statutory duty to announce the date of elections to keep away from the infringement and breach of the Constitution and law i.e., holding of elections not later than 90 days.
The president further said that the governors of Punjab and KP were not performing their constitutional obligations to appoint a date, not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution of provincial assemblies as per the Constitution.