At long last, K-P poll date is out

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Haji Ghulam Ali called the general election of the provincial assembly on May 28, following separate meetings with President Dr Arif Alvi and the Election Commission of Pakistan here on Tuesday.

The announcement fulfilled the order of the Supreme Court in the election date suo motu case of March 1, in which a five-judge larger bench mandated the governor to give the date for provincial assembly election in consultation with the ECP.

“I was under pressure from the entire nation for [the election date],” Governor Ali said, while talking to reporters here. “We have consulted with the Election Commission in a good atmosphere [and] the date of May 28 has been agreed upon,” he added.

“We have given the date of May 28 for the election and now conducting elections is the responsibility of the Election Commission.  May the elections on May 28 are held peacefully,” he added.

When asked about the security situation, the governor said that many questions “have been raised and will be raised” regarding the security. “We were saying earlier and are still saying that there is a problem of the law and order,” he added.

He pointed out that the police were targeted in Lakki Marwat and Charsadda the other day, while the people in the newly-merged tribal districts were still protesting. However, he expressed the hope that the elections would be held smoothly.

Earlier, the government attended a meeting at the ECP, chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and attended by the ECP members, the ECP secretary and other senior officers.

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During the meeting, the governor informed the polls supervisor about the law and order situation in the province and the problems in the tribal districts. The ECP requested the Governor to inform it of his decision on the election date.

Later, the governor called on President Alvi at the President's House. During the meeting matters related to the general elections in K-P and Punjab came under discussion. The president urged the governor to appoint the date of election in the province.

According to the Press Wing of the President's House, Governor Ali told the president that the law and order situation in the province was not satisfactory. Alvi, however, suggested to Ali to implement the Supreme Court order on the election date, it added.

The official announcement said that the president and the governor discussed the election issue in light of Article 224 (2) of the Constitution and the order of the Supreme Court on March 1.

The president emphasised that almost two weeks had passed since the apex court order, therefore, the election date should be appointed in order to avoid any confusion. Timely elections, he said, were necessary to strengthen parliamentary democracy in the country.