Taking cue from LHC order, govt hints at poll delay

Court’s judgment compels ECP to put off three-day training of DROs and ROs

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Murtaza Solangi on Thursday hinted at a possible delay in the holding of the next general elections as the 54-day mandatory period for campaigning for the February 8, 2024 polls began from December 16, but the three-day training of the officers responsible for supervising electoral activities was halted because of a Lahore High Court order over a PTI petition.

The interim information minister clarified that there was no delay on the government’s part as it was ready to provide financial, administrative and security facilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He continued that the ECP had to suspend the training of the returning officers (ROs) just before the electoral body was set to announce the election schedule and formally begin the polls process following the LHC’s decision.

A day earlier, LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi decided in favour of a petition filed by the PTI against the appointment of district returning officers (DROs), ROs, and assistant returning officers (AROs) from the bureaucracy of Punjab for the general polls.

The party in its plea also sought the court’s assistance to appoint judicial officers as ROs.

The interim information minister, while expressing his views in different private TV news channels’ talk shows, said the ECP had to give a mandatory period of 54 days for election campaigning to political parties, adding that this duration had to begin from December 16 if the polls were to be held on February 8 next year.

However, the caretaker minister said the court’s decision had caused a setback and there was no change in the caretaker government’s stance on the elections.

Solangi hoped that the ECP and judiciary would address the issue.

Although the interim minister did not name the PTI, he blamed the party for trying to delay the polls when he said the ECP was swiftly moving towards holding the general elections but a political party had apparently created hurdles for it.

Solangi said he was surprised at the attempt to create the possibility of a delay in holding the elections.

Surprising as it may seem, Thursday brought the interim government, mainstream political parties and ECP to a situation where the caretaker set-up’s spokesperson and PML-N accused the PTI of attempting to delay the general elections.

However, the PTI blamed the ECP for the stumbling block and the electoral body refuted the party’s allegations, saying it could not be held responsible for the current situation

Although the Supreme Court recently barred from even discussing about the postponement of the elections, it is a decision from the judiciary which has triggered the debate about the possible delay in the polls just when the DROs, ROs and AROs were about to formally begin the process after the training by accepting nomination papers from the candidates and ensuring foolproof arrangements for voters.

PML-N president and former premier Shehbaz Sharif accused the PTI of hatching a “conspiracy” to delay the February 8 general elections.

He claimed that the PTI had conspired to defer the general elections by challenging the appointment of ROs from the provincial bureaucracy as it had not raised such objections before the 2018 elections.

Shehbaz described the PTI’s plea as an attempt to sabotage people’s representation.

He added that the party’s petition in the high court was a plot to run away from the elections.

The PML-N president alleged that the PTI had hatched a conspiracy against the February 8 general polls that was similar to the cipher case, saying the party’s double-standard and hypocritical policy was evident from the move.

On the one hand, Shehbaz said the PTI was demanding to hold general elections but on the other, it was filing a petition before the courts to postpone the polls.

He continued that the PTI would be responsible if the elections of February 8 were delayed.
T

he former premier said the PTI had adopted different stances on the cipher controversy in public and during the investigation.

He added that the PTI had now adopted the same hypocrisy in connection with the elections.

Shehbaz alleged that the PTI wanted political uncertainty by creating a constitutional crisis in Pakistan, claiming the party did not want the country to become financially stable and its people’s economic woes to end.

However, PTI lawyer Barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi said Lahore Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider, who has been appointed as a DRO by the ECP, had issued dozens of maintenance of public orders (MPOs) against the party leadership and its supporters.

He maintained that only a fool could expect her to ensure free and fair elections in various constituencies of Punjab’s provincial capital.

“We demand ROs only from the judiciary. She [Lahore DC] issued an MPO against PTI senior leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Thursday,” he added.

Barrister Niazi said on the instructions of former PTI chairman Imran Khan and its core committee, the party, through various writ petitions filed in all high courts, sought the appointment of judicial officers as DROs and ROs.

He continued that all these petitions were currently pending adjudication in various high courts.

The PTI lawyer said he had filed a writ petition in the LHC following the instructions.

“We have serious and reasonable apprehensions. The current fascist and totalitarian caretaker set-up, which is biased and partial, through the bureaucracy (working under it) will interfere in the general elections to the disadvantage of the PTI,” he claimed.

Barrister Niazi maintained that the deputy commissioners, who were involved in issuing several MPOs against PTI leaders and supporters, had been appointed as DROs.

He added that all the MPOs issued by the Lahore DC had been declared illegal and unconstitutional by the LHC. He continued that the LHC had even imposed a cost for issuing “frivolous” MPOs.

“Can we expect free, fair and independent elections under such returning officers?” he asked.

Barrister Niazi claimed that because of the LHC’s stay order, the whole “nefarious plan” to interfere in the elections through a “compromised” bureaucracy had been prevented.

“The PTI is not in the court to delay the elections rather to ensure they are held on time as well as free, fair and independent. We are ready to argue even on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the Lahore High Court and have this decided in two days,” he added.

The lawyer maintained that the PTI was the “most popular party” in Pakistan. “It [PTI] is unremittingly chasing the elections unlike other political parties, which are running away from the polls. It’s the only party fighting for timely elections in Pakistan for the last one year,” he concluded.