• President expresses dismay at ECP’s ‘apathy’
• Watchdog says performing duties as per mandate in impartial manner

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Friday sent a letter to the chief election commissioner seeking an “urgent meeting” with the head of the election watchdog on Feb 20 amid a delay in the announcement of dates for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the letter, the meeting would be held at the Presidency to discuss Section 57(1) of the Elections Act 2017 which details that the president is entrusted to announce the election date after consulting the Election Commission.

This is the second letter by the president to the ECP this month. Since the first letter dated February 8, some substantial developments have taken place, specifically the orders by the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court, the president said, urging the election watchdog to “realise its constitutional duties”.

He also expressed displeasure over the “apathy and inaction” on the part of the commission that did not respond to his earlier letter as yet. The president said he had waited anxiously that the ECP would realise its constitutional duties to proceed and act accordingly but was extremely dismayed by the commission’s “poignant approach on this important matter”.

In his letter, the president once again reminded the ECP that being “conscious” of his constitutional responsibility of “preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution”, he was inviting the CEC for the meeting on February 20 at his office to consult on the date or dates for the general elections.

On February 8, President Alvi wrote a letter to the commission and urged it to “immediately announce” the date for polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and put an end to “dangerous speculative propaganda”.

Responding to the intervention, legal and constitutional experts said that the Constitution had no provision under which the president could direct the chief election commissioner to hold snap elections.

On the other hand, the ECP and ruling coalition appeared reluctant to go to polls amid a host of factors, particularly the economic crunch and lack of resources required for the electoral exercise. A source in the ECP told Dawn that the commission was also “uncertain” about the fate of elections in Punjab and KP due to the prevailing financial crunch, the resurgence of terrorism in the country, and concerns expressed by some political parties over “split” polls.

It may be noted that Punjab and KP assemblies were dissolved on Jan 14 and Jan 19, respectively, by the PTI governments to force general elections in Pakistan.

ECP boasts achievements

In a statement shared by the election watchdog in apparent response to the letter sent by Dr Alvi which called out the commission for the delay in polls, the Election Commission said it has been discharging its constitutional and legal duties “impartially, fearlessly, and freely in accordance with its constitutional mandate”.

As a constitutional body, the ECP was carrying out its work smoothly in accordance with the Constitution, the statement added. “The commission discharges its constitutional and legal duties impartially, fearlessly, and freely in accordance with the mandate and performs only the functions assigned by the Constitution with impartiality and transparency…[under] oath taken by all honourable members,” it said without mentioning whether the president could direct the CEC for snap polls.

The watchdog said it was a “big task to revise” the electoral rolls, which were published on October 7, 2022, across the country. The electoral rolls have been updated for the upcoming general elections, the statement said, while going to list elections conducted by the commission, from Senate polls to recent by-polls on NA seats.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023