Pressure now mounts on the ECP

With the apex court having dismissed the Elections Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) review petition against its April 4 order to hold polls for the Punjab Assembly on May 14, pressure is mounting on the ECP either to hold the general elections within 90 days or to approach the court to seek guidance on the question of conducting new delimitation based on the 7th Population Census.

The Supreme Court has already entertained a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, Abid Zuberi, seeking direction for the ECP to hold general elections within 90 days.

The PTI party has also submitted a similar petition, while superior bars also demand timely elections. Both the Pakistan Bar Council (PBA) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) are convening events to formulate a joint strategy next week. President Dr. Arif Alvi is also considering various options.

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In light of facing a tough time in the province of Sindh, the PPP party is also demanding that the elections be held within 90 days.

In this scenario, the Supreme Court may take up the general elections case. However, it is not clear whether the incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Umar Ata Bandial, will hear these petitions or if his successor, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who will take the oath on September 17, will handle them.

Two weeks remain until CJP Bandial's retirement, and he is currently occupied with the adjudication of high-profile cases that may impact national politics. Many lawyers believe that CJP Bandial should leave the election issue to the next CJP.

It is evident that CJP Bandial could not compel state institutions to hold elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14. Even the court's proceedings on the issue divided the SC judges into two camps.

The SC and the security establishment were not aligned regarding early elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), whose provincial assemblies were dissolved prematurely in January of this year.

Both the parliament and the executive stood against one section of the SC, led by CJP Bandial, which advocated for timely elections in these two provinces. However, the situation has now slightly changed as the bar is unanimously demanding general elections within 90 days.

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Some experts believe that even the SC may find common ground on certain issues after CJP Bandial's departure.

Earlier, one section of the apex court judges wanted the elections issue to be decided by the Lahore High Court (LHC) first, but Justice Bandial wanted the SC to decide the matter. Currently, the caretaker government is also struggling to provide relief to the public, which is grappling with unprecedented inflation.

There is a need to develop consensus on the question of the next general elections, deciding whether they should be held within 90 days or after the completion of the delimitation process.

Some lawyers suggest that one section of the SC judges may have a differing opinion from the jurisprudence evolved by the three-member bench that dismissed the ECP’s review appeal on Thursday.

They believe that things will become clearer once Justice Isa takes the oath as the top judge.

Fifty-four days are required for the elections process—from filing nomination papers to the polling day. If the ECP announces the election schedule on September 20, then it can hold general elections within 90 days, as per the Constitution.