Election date

The Constitution is taking its route, and it is a good omen that stakeholders are out to abide by their responsibilities. The Election Commission’s letter to the Presidency in the backdrop of a landmark 5-3 verdict by the Supreme Court to hold the elections for the dissolved provincial legislatures within 90 days has set the ball rolling. The top court was magnanimous to come up with a barest minimum buffer period for sorting out poll dates, if there is an administrative exigency, within the stipulated 90 days. The electoral watchdog’s prompt output by gearing up its machinery, and the subsequent inking of the same by the head of the state as April 30 (Sunday), as polling day for Punjab, has nailed down rumours of any extra-constitutional misadventures. Now all eyes are set on the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the governor is coordinating with the President to follow suit for an election date in the province.

The brewing crisis as constitutional offices were at loggerheads, whether to go for polls are not on grounds of political considerations, had already taken a toll. The credit goes to the CJP for taking a suo motu notice, and deciding in all grace and humility a fundamental provision of public representation. The fact that political parties, despite their own briefs, are now in the race for electioneering has strengthened democracy and, likewise, the Election Commission has lived up to its constitutional and legal duty. This milestone is in need of being cherished to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, and learn to evolve a working relationship for the supremacy of law, even if it is in conflict with petty personal considerations.

A quote from the letter of the Election Commissioner to the President is worth pondering. It went on to state that, “…possibly on account of a misunderstanding of the law, the ECP did not make itself available for consultation as required under section 57(1) of the Election Act 2017…” This is a welcome auto-correction of law, and will go a long way in buoying parliamentary norms under the dictum of the Constitution. This is what was needed earnestly.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2023.

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