President faces election date conundrum

ISLAMABAD:

 

President Dr Arif Alvi found himself at the centre of attention once again as the question of announcing the election date took a prominent place in the political discourse.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) insisted that the president immediately reveal the election date, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) called for Alvi’s resignation from the presidency without specifying a date.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government emphasised that only the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) possessed the authority to make such an announcement.

The discussion over the election date started right after the president met with interim Federal Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam at the Presidency and, as per the official statement, discussed about the upcoming general elections.

The statement said that the meeting between the federal minister and the president was held in continuation of the ongoing consultations on the general elections.

Read President ‘mulls Nov date’ for elections

The president emphasised the importance of continuing the consultative process in good faith, highlighting its positive impact on the nation's democracy.

Despite the dissolution of the National Assembly on Aug 9, neither President Alvi nor the ECP has officially declared the election date.

Both the parties have teased the possibility of an imminent announcement on several occasions but have yet to take that decisive step.

Following the meeting, speculations ran rife that President Alvi might unveil the polling date at any moment.
Initially, he extended an invitation to the Chief Election Commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raja, in an attempt to settle on a date.

However, Raja declined the request, dismissing it as a futile exercise and reinforcing that only the ECP possessed the authority to announce the date, citing amendments made in the ECP Act of 2017.

Prior to the amendment to Section 57(1) of the act, Raja had said, the president was required to consult the ECP before appointing a date for the election. However, after the amendment in Section 57, the commission had been empowered to announce the date or dates for the general election, he said.

Where the president dissolved the National Assembly in his discretion as provided in Article 58(2) read with Article 48(5) of the Constitution, Raja maintained, then he had to appoint a date for the general elections.

However, Raja continued, if the assembly was dissolved on the advice of the prime minister or by effluxion of time as provided in Article 58(1) of the Constitution, then “the Commission understands and believes that power to appoint a date or dates for elections rests exclusively with the Commission".

Subsequently, Alvi sought an opinion from the law ministry, which reportedly favoured ECP’s stance; met with the interim law minister; mulled on announcing the date but just fell short of it every time.

Meanwhile, the PTI Core Committee has been reminding Alvi about his constitutional responsibilities, demanding that he should exercise his powers and announce the polls’ date without any delay.

“Under Article 48(5), 1973, when the President dissolves the National Assembly, he is to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution for holding of general elections to the Assembly,” PTI Secretary Omar Ayub wrote in a letter addressed to Alvi.

“We may mention here that under Section 57 of the Elections Act, 2017, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been given the right to appoint the date for elections but the section itself states that this is subject to the Constitution. As you are well aware, in any case, it is an established principle that no law can override the Constitution,” Ayub added.
Accordingly, he stated, the right of the ECP to fix a date for elections under the Elections Act, 2017 is subject to Article 48(5) of the Constitution, hence, when the National Assembly is dissolved by the president, it is the president alone who can fix the date.

Meanwhile, PML-N Central Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb asked the president to vacate Aiwan-e-Sadr immediately following the completion of his term.

“Pack your bags and move to the PTI Secretariat because your desire is not just economic and political turmoil, but also a constitutional crisis in the country,” Marriyum added.

PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar also stated that whenever the country shows signs of progress, the PTI tries to destabilise it.

Also read PPP, PML-N split on election timing

Tarar said that President Alvi’s five-year constitutional term has ended and he can’t announce the elections date now.

Lastly, interim Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi in an interview to a private channel said that the caretaker law minister’s meeting with the president was a routine meeting, saying it is the ECP’s responsibility to hold free, fair, and transparent elections.

“The election commission will announce elections’ date,” Solangi said, adding that elections were to be held according to the last census but completing delimitation exercise was necessary before that.

The information minister said that the ECP has already issued the delimitation process schedule, adding that the political parties will be given 54 days for election campaign once the process of redrawing the boundaries of constituencies is completed.