Even though President Arif Alvi has finally given a date for the elections of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, the province’s far from ideal security situation could potentially hinder the electoral process.
Relying on Section 57 (1) of the Election Act 2017, President Alvi announced 9th April as the date for both the provincial assemblies of Punjab and K-P, which were dissolved earlier this year.
It is also pertinent to mention that in light of the Police Lines blast, K-P’s governor, Haji Ghulam Ali, had written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), stating that the province’s security situation did not allow for elections at the moment.
While it remains to be seen whether the ECP will be bound by the date given by the President, The Express Tribune spoke to the K-P’s newly appointed Inspector General (IG), Akhtar Hayat, about the concerns raised by Governor Ali, earlier this month.
“The province’s law and order situation is concerning indeed. We cannot rule out the fact that terrorist groups will target the electoral process,” said Hayat.
When asked whether a delay in elections would help the K-P Police get the security situation in control, the IG replied: “We are ready to conduct elections and have already informed the ECP about our intent as well but we will need support.”
Answering a question regarding what sort of support the K-P Police required, Hayat said that for the election to be peaceful an additional 57,000 security personnel and assistance from the Frontier Constabulary (FC) would be needed.
“Even if we do not receive any support or assistance, we will still try to provide security in the elections with whatever limited resources we have.”
The Express Tribune also spoke with Professor Abdur Rauf, of the University of Peshawar’s Political Science Department, regarding a potential delay in elections due to the rise in terrorism.
“The security situation in 2018 was worse than it is today but we still had elections. Therefore, the Constitution should be followed and elections should be held on time so that the people of this province have representatives,” he opined.
On the other hand, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), was of the view that while the Constitution requires the caretaker government to conduct elections within 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution, the ECP could delay the process if it deemed fit.
“As per Section 58 of the Election Act the Commission can alter or delay an election programme, by recording the reasons in writing and informing the President,” informed Mehboob.
“We have already seen that the local bodies elections in Sindh were delayed four times due to the monsoon flooding, so if the security situation in K-P is concerning then the ECP could delay the polls.”
Advocate Ali Gohar, a lawyer based in Peshawar, partially agrees with Mehboob’s assessment. “While a natural disaster can be a good justification to delay polls, the ECP cannot just use any flimsy excuse to delay the time frame given by the Constitution. If anyone were to violate a constitutional provision then they would attract punishment under Article 6 of the Constitution,” opined Gohar while talking to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2023.
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