The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) has demanded that the election to the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies in the country should be held latest by October this year.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Pildat pointed out that the polls should be held after the National Assembly completed its five-year term on August 12, 2023.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] must be fully prepared to hold general election[s] by October 2023 honestly, justly and fairly as is its constitutional obligation,” Pildat underscored.
The think-tank observed that only free, fair, and timely elections could restore the desperately-needed stability in Pakistan keeping in view recent political turmoil.
“Pakistan needs a government that has the mandate to [make] difficult decisions to fix the economy of the country in the next five years after the election[s],” Pildat added.
The current lower house of parliament would complete its five-year term on August 12 this year.
Fresh general elections to the NA and four provincial assemblies must be conducted within 60 days, as laid down in the Constitution.
The constitutional date suggests the latest conceivable date of October 12 this year for holding the general elections.
However, if the NA is dissolved even one day before the completion of its term, the election must be held within 90 days. The “deadline” for conducting the polls in that scenario will be November 11, 2023. Pildat has “advised” that under no circumstances the date of the general elections should be extended beyond this time if such a situation arose.
“The accountability of individuals who are accused of committing a crime such as attacking the military properties on May 9 [might] continue but it should not impede the political and electoral process in any way,” the statement read.
Read PILDAT analyses state of democracy in Pakistan
The think-tank reminded all the stakeholders that although the emergency provisions of the Constitution allowed the extension in the term of the NA by up to one year and that might delay the elections up till October 2024, a similar postponement of polls was not possible for the provincial assemblies.
“Any attempt to defer the [NA] election[s] under emergency provisions will stagger the schedule of national and provincial assembly elections which may create a similar situation that led to the postponement of the [polls] in Punjab and K-P [Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa] beyond the constitutional limit of 90 days,” Pildat warned.
The think-tank called for the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) completing its 2023 population census findings and that the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approving them in time so that ECP was able to complete the delimitation of constituencies well in time before the elections in October this year.
Pildat cautioned that the postponement of the general elections beyond October or November this year was “fraught” with serious threats to the national polity, economy and integrity.
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