Country heads to polls after SC intervention

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday agreed that general elections in the country would be held on February 8 following Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa’s directives to the electoral body earlier in the day to confer with him on the polls date.

An ECP team, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, met with the president at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad after Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan called on him.

Earlier on Thursday, the commission told the Supreme Court that the general elections in the country would be held on February 11 but the CJP told it to ensure that the president was on board with the decision.

A three-judge bench comprising the CJP, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah were hearing the petitions calling for holding the polls within 90 days after the dissolution of the legislatures in the country.

“Let the ECP meet with the President of Pakistan today and the date for holding general elections in Pakistan be appointed,” the CJP wrote in an order.

“In this regard, the Attorney-General for Pakistan will arrange [this] meeting and shall provide to the president this court's order of 23 October 2023 and today's order, and be available to render assistance,” it added.

“We expect that the matter of appointing a date for holding general elections shall be settled, and this court will be informed tomorrow, that is, November 3, 2023 [Friday],” it concluded.

On October 23, the SC issued notices to the ECP and Federation, noting that they could fix the date of election within 10 days and adjourned the hearing till November 2 (Thursday).

During the court proceedings, the CJP remarked that the final date for the elections would be announced from the SC.
He pointed out that this was a strange case wherein everybody was “happy”.

The top judge added that the political parties should go to the public with their manifestos and the latter would vote for the one they preferred.

Justice Minallah noted that prima facie, the government, ECP and president were responsible for the delay in the elections.

He continued that the elections should be held on their scheduled time and no action had been taken against anyone for violating the Constitution.

Sajeel Swati, the ECP lawyer, told the court that the process of delimitation was under way and it would conclude on November 30, the order read.

He added that the final result of the delimitation would be published by December 5, 2023.

“Thereafter, the election programme is to be announced in terms of section 57(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, which provides certain timeframes and will conclude on 29 January 2024,” the order quoted him as saying.

The order further read that the ECP lawyer said to maximise public participation, elections should ideally be held on a Sunday. He added that the first Sunday after the timeframe would be February 4, 2024. “However, to enable political parties to convey their respective programmes and manifestos, it would be appropriate to hold elections on Sunday, 11 February, 2024,” the order further quoted the lawyer as informing the court.

The CJP asked Swati if the president was taken on board in connection with the polls date. The ECP lawyer replied that the commission was not bound to take the president on board.

Irked by this response, the top judge pointed out that both the president and ECP were Pakistanis. He inquired why the ECP was reluctant to consult with Alvi. He then ordered the commission to confer with the president on the elections date.

After a half an hour break in the hearing, Swati told the court that the ECP would consult with the president later in the day.

Read SC issues notices to ECP, Federation

Later while dictating the written order, the top judge remarked that the election date given would have to be implemented.

“The SC wants elections to be held without any arguments,” he added, pointing out that the court only wanted a solution to the problem without any technicalities.

“The final date for polls will be announced from the Supreme Court,” CJP Isa announced.

He continued that after the current case, no more pleas about any delay in the polls would be taken up. The hearing was then adjourned till Friday (today).