President Arif Alvi announces date for Punjab elections

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Friday announced April 30 as the date for elections in Punjab, ARY News reported.

The announcement from President Alvi comes minutes after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) proposed dates for the election in the province in light of the Supreme Court (SC) verdict.

“President Dr Arif Alvi has announced to hold general elections of Punjab Assembly on April 30, Sunday,” tweeted the President’s office.

“The decision was made by the president after considering the dates proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan,” it added.

He announced the date after considering dates proposed by Election Commission of Pakistan. ECP had proposed poll date between 30 April to 7 May 2023 for holding general elections of Provincial Assembly of Punjab, and had further suggested to hold elections preferably on Sunday.

— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) March 3, 2023

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today proposed Punjab election date between April 30 and May 7 in a letter written to President Arif Alvi.

The decision was taken in the election watchdog’s meeting, which was presided over by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja. The members and secretary of ECP also participated in the meeting.

The announcement comes two days after the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days.

The Supreme Court (SC) had announced a split verdict of 3-2 after the completion of the hearing on the suo moto notice.

CJP Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar supported the verdict, while Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah opposed the admissibility of the suo moto notice and dissented from the majority verdict.

The Punjab and KP assemblies were dissolved on Jan 18 and Jan 14, respectively, after former prime minister Imran Khan had announced the dissolution of provincial assemblies in an attempt to force the government to hold snap polls.

As per the Constitution of Pakistan, polls need to be held for the dissolved assemblies in 90 days.