President Attempts To End Crisis

Asem Mustafa Awan

President Dr Arif Alvi has announced the schedule to hold the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies elections on April 9. Clause 57-2 of the Constitution grants the president the authority to set the election date.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had written another letter to the President on the issue of elections in Punjab and KP.

The Election Commission secretary explained in the letter that the ECP neither could give a date for the elections according to the Constitution nor could it consult the President in this regard.

It was stated the electoral watchdog is cognizant of its constitutional obligations and under Article 105 of the Constitution, only the governor can fix polls date for the dissolved assemblies.

The letter further said that after the dissolution of the two provincial assemblies, the Commission contacted the governors of the two provinces but they did not give any date for the elections.

PTI started treading on a political path after the dissolution of their governments in Punjab and KP, which is democratic; however, the incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government is making a simple matter complicated by creating new constitutional obstacle every now and then.

It is the first time that questions have been raised pertaining to the powers and responsibilities of the president and the governors, as well as the role of the ECP and possible intervention by the government. These questions will only be answered with the new constitutional amendments.

The announcement of the election date by the President could be the sole solution to get the country out the prevailing political crisis since the relevant officials and institutions showed little interest to resolve the solution, and were merely passing the buck on one another.

The Constitution of Pakistan has defined the responsibilities of the ECP, including dissolution of the Assembly and holding new elections; but despite knowing the root cause of the crisis, the electoral watchdog was reluctant to play its due role in this regard.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered on February 10, 2023, while hearing the PTI petition, that the ECP issue a notification for the date of the Provincial Assembly elections after consulting the Governor of Punjab.

The LHC wrote in its order that the constitutional mandate was 90 days to announce poll date. The first impediment was created by Governor Punjab’s refusal to sign the notification of the assembly’s dissolution. Both governors refused to announce polls dates for various reasons and the ECP also provided for postponing elections.

The Supreme Court issued clear orders for holding the elections. Aware of the gravity of the situation, the highest constitutional head of the state, President Alvi, invited ECP for consultation.

It is high time that state institutions join hands with the president to find a workable solution to the current crisis. The politicians should set aside their petty political interests and give priority to national ones, as only then could the country be steered out of its quagmire of problems.

The president is the symbol of unity in the federation, and the ECP is a constitutional body but it is not above the president. The rigmaroles by different officials with ECP making headlines everyday make me wonder; if the orders from the President and Supreme Court are not implemented, what happens then?

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.