Achakzai demands postponement of presidential elections

In a letter to ECP, SIC-nominated candidate says elections without reserve seats would violate Constitution

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the chief of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and presidential candidate for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), has called for the postponement of Pakistan's presidential election, slated for Saturday.

The development comes a day after the ruling coalition including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) endorsed the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari’s nomination for the presidency.

Apart from the joint presidential candidate, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, PML-N’s Ishaq Dar, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, PPPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani, Raza Rabbani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Khurshid Shah and IPP Aleem Khan and Awn Chaudhry as well as several other politicians attended the dinner.

Read more: Shehbaz, Zardari vow national revival

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acknowledged that his government was facing immense challenges on various fronts, particularly the economy. Shehbaz said he has been taking briefings since he took oath and the numbers are alarming.

In a letter addressed to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today, Achakzai highlighted the issue of numerous vacant reserve seats in both national and provincial assemblies. He argued that proceeding with the election without filling these seats would violate the law and the Constitution.

"The election should be postponed until the electoral college is completed," Achakzai stated firmly in his letter to the ECP.

Read: Ruling coalition endorses Zardari’s nomination for presidency

Furthermore, Achakzai revealed that the SIC has submitted an application to the Peshawar High Court regarding the matter of reserve seats. He expressed hopes for a fair decision from the court on this issue.

According to the ECP schedule, polling for the presidential election will be held on Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Incumbent President Dr Arif Alvi is already on an extended tenure after completing his five-year term on Sept 9 last year.

Article 44(1) of the Constitution says that the president will hold office for a term of five years from the day he assumes charge, but he continues to hold the office until a successor is chosen.

Alvi is the country’s fourth democratically elected president to complete the five-year term.

The three presidents before Dr Alvi who completed their full terms were Chaudhary Fazal Elahi (fifth president, from 1973 to 1978),

Asif Ali Zardari (11th, from 2008 to 2013), and Mamnoon Hussain (12th, from 2013 to 2018). Therefore, Dr Alvi is the third consecutive president to have a full term and the first one to have an extended term due to an incomplete electoral college, which comprises the National Assembly, Senate and the four provincial assemblies.