President Alvi, Law Minister discuss holding of general elections

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday held another meeting with caretaker Law Minister Ahmad Irfan Aslam for consultation on general elections in the country, ARY News reported.

According to a statement, the meeting was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad in continuation of the ongoing consultation process between the president and the interim government on the electoral process.

“The continuation of the consultation process with good intent will be positive for democracy in the country,” the president was quoted as saying in the statement.

Sources told ARY News that Arif Alvi, during the meeting, mentioned the presidential authority regarding giving the date of the general election.

However, the Law Minister reiterated that it was the prerogative of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce date of the general elections.

Sources further claimed that the minister also referred to the amendment in the Election Act regarding announcement of elections date, saying that if the President announces date, the Election Commission can reject it.

In the last meeting with Law Minister, President Alvi had emphasised the need to hold elections within 90 days of the National Assembly’s dissolution.

The President appreciated the Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s statement that the interim government would abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on this issue.

The meeting takes place amid a standoff between President Alvi and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on who has the authority to decide the final date for general elections in Pakistan.

Earlier in August, the Ministry of Law told President Arif Alvi that he has no role in the announcement of date for general elections “following the amendment in Elections Act”, ARY News reported.

The law ministry forwarded its response to President Alvi’s letter, seeking opinion on Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) stance that “only it had the authority to decide the election date”.

In the letter, the Law ministry said that the right of announcing the date of election rests with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The development came after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja responded to President Alvi’s letter for meeting to “fix an appropriate date” for general elections, saying that participating in such a meeting would be of “scant importance” after changes to the election law.

The president had written to Sikandar Raja Sultan, inviting him for a meeting regarding holding general elections in the country.

In his letter, President Alvi quoted Article 244 of the Constitution, saying he was duty-bound to get the elections conducted in the 90 days’ prescribed period once the National Assembly is dissolved prematurely.

Responding to the latter, ECP CEC said it was “imperative” to point out that Section 57 of the Elections Act had been amended due to an act of Parliament, which had empowered the commission to “announce the date or dates for the general elections”.

“Where the president dissolves the National Assembly, in his discretion, as provided in Article 58(2) read with Article 48(5) of the Constitution then he has to appoint a date for the general elections. However, if the assembly is dissolved on the advice of the prime minister or by afflux of time as provided in Article 58(1) of the Constitution, then the commission understands and believes that power to appoint a date or dates for elections rests exclusively with the Commission.

CEC Raja said that the delimitation of constituencies, after the approval of the digital census, was one of the “foundational legal steps” towards holding polls.

He further said that the ECP was taking its responsibility of holding general elections in the country “very seriously” and had also invited major political parties to give their views on the electoral map.

Earlier, it was reported that the ECP decided to hold general elections in the second week of February 2024.

Sources privy to the development told ARY News that the election commission is likely to issue general elections schedule after December 2023. “The election schedule will be issued 54 days after the completion of the delimitation process,” said sources with ECP.