PTI moves SC against K-P governor, ECP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Monday filed a contempt petition against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) governor Haji Ghulam Ali and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not announcing the date of elections in the province in violation of the Supreme Court (SC) order.

The petition maintained that the governor “willfully chose to “ignore the exalted status of his high constitutional office”, adding that he is “already in breach of his constitutional responsibilities and that he must appoint the date for holding the general election to the KP Assembly”.

The PTI leader requested the court to initiate judicial proceedings against the governor and “punish him accordingly”.

Ghani also requested the apex court to get its order, announcing the election date, implemented.

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“Respondent 1 [KP governor] is not willing or ready to appoint such date, this Honorable Court may either direct that President or any other suitable functionary to appoint such date for poll or fix the date itself, as has been done in a previous election,” concluded the petition.

Sixty-two days have passed since the K-P Assembly was dissolved, but the date of the election has not been announced yet. The apex court had also ordered the governor to give the date for polls in the province.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court announced its verdict after two-day-long proceedings in the case regarding the delay in the announcement of the date of provincial elections in Punjab and K-P.

The apex court ordered that elections in both assemblies should be held in the next 90 days, with the chief justice saying that "democracy cannot exist without assemblies".