PESHAWAR:
A meeting was held at Governor House Peshawar to finalise the dates for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly elections, but it ended without any results.
On this, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the governor agreed to sit together again in Islamabad next week. It is expected that the date of the election will be announced after that meeting.
The date is expected to be in the second or third week of May.
Complying with the orders of the Supreme Court (SC), the nominated team of the Election Commission visited the Governor House and consulted with Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on the date related to provincial assembly elections.
The election commission’s team included Secretary Umar Hameed Khan, Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain and Director General Lai Arshad Khan.
Principal Secretary to Governor Mahmood Hasan and Additional Secretary to Governor Saiful Islam also participated in the meeting.
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The governor welcomed the delegation of the election commission on their arrival at the Governor's House and said that the decision of the apex court regarding the general elections in the province will be approved and implemented.
The governor also briefed the ECP team about the overall situation including peace and order in the province.
In the two-hour-long consultative session, discussions regarding the date for the general elections entered the final stages and the governor decided to go to the ECP’s office in Islamabad next week for final consultations.
Earlier in the meeting, the secretary briefed the governor on various matters after the dissolution of the provincial assembly and in light of the court orders, consulted the governor in detail on the date.
In this regard, sources said that the election commission was advised by several parties to hold the elections in the first week of May whereas governor suggested second or third week of May.
In this regard, after further consultation with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the governor may take a decision regarding the final date after meeting the officials of the election commission in Islamabad next week.
Sources further said that the governor may seek a report from the inspector general of police (IGP) and the chief secretary regarding the law and order situation in the province.
Along with this, the Ministry of Finance can also be contacted about the financial situation, they added.
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