Staff Report
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, on Monday, invited the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for a meeting on March 7 or 8 regarding consultations on the date of the general elections.
In a letter, the governor maintained that the consultation process should be completed at the earliest, and the election date should be announced as per the orders of the Supreme Court.
The development comes days after the ECP wrote a letter to the governor’s principal secretary in this regard.
KP Governor confirms receiving ECP’s letter
Speaking to the media on Saturday, governor KP confirmed receiving ECP’s letter, saying the election date for the provincial assembly is expected to be announced on March 6 (today) when the principal secretary of the province would open the letter.
“Secretary is on leave; he will open the letter himself when he returns on Monday.”
Last week, President Dr Arif Alvi announced that the Punjab Assembly’s elections would be held on April 30.
“ECP had proposed an election date between April 30 and May 7 for holding general elections of the Punjab Provincial Assembly, and had further suggested holding elections preferably on Sunday,” said a statement issued by President’s House.
ECP ready to fulfill constitutional responsibility
It said that the ECP was prepared to fulfill its legal and constitutional responsibilities once the election date was selected by President Alvi, adding the commission has written a letter to the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, saying the ECP was waiting for his response about the date for elections in the province.
The announcement comes days after the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the Punjab and KP assemblies elections should be held within 90 days. It, however, allowed the electoral body to propose an election date that deviates from the 90-day deadline by the “barest minimum” in case of any practical difficulty.
It also held that President Alvi and the KP governor would fix dates for Punjab and KP assemblies in consultation with the ECP.
A couple of days earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan wrote a letter to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to announce a date for holding general elections to the provincial assembly.
The commission had said it was awaiting the governor’s response for holding consultations and announcing a date for the assembly elections.
