AGP says only governors can announce polls date

Top govt lawyer informs ECP president not authorised to do that

ISLAMABAD:

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi on Wednesday raised his reservations over President Dr Arif Alvi announcing the dates for elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, informing the participants of an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) huddle that the head of state had no right to do that under the Constitution.

Sources said he further informed the commission that under the Constitution, only the governors were authorised to announce the election dates.

Besides, he also conveyed to the commission in his constitutional opinion that it was impossible to hold the polls within 90 days as per the schedule announced by the president.

The AGP noted that even if the ECP issued an election schedule, it was impossible to hold the polls before April 27.

He pointed out that the Representation of the People Act, 1976 did not authorise the president to announce the election dates.

In 1986, former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq through the 8th Constitutional Amendment empowered the president to carry out this function.

However, the AGP observed that the authority to announce the election dates was limited to the governors through the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Earlier, the ECP remained undecided over the issue of conducting polls in the two provinces as per the president’s directives despite holding a meeting over the matter for the second straight day.

The participants of the meeting, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, were of the view that the opinion of the AGP should be sought on the matter – which he gave in the first half of this story.

They also decided to sought the suggestions of legal and constitutional experts Shah Khawar and Sajeel Swati on the issue.

The ECP will meet again after reviewing the opinions of the AGP and the two legal experts.

President Dr Alvi had unilaterally set April 9 as the date for holding the polls in the two provinces under Section 57 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017.

According to a press release issued by the President Secretariat’s Press Wing, Dr Alvi asked the ECP to issue the polls programme in accordance with Section 57(2) of the Elections Act.

In his letter to the CEC, according to the press release, the president emphasised that there was no restraining order from any of the judicial fora and there had been no impediment in invoking the power and authority vested in him under Section 57 (1).