In a letter shared on social media by the president's office, the president emphasised the CEC's duty to "appoint a date, no later than ninety days from the date of the dissolution, for the holding of a general election to the Assembly" as mandated by the Constitution.The letter also noted that the National Assembly was dissolved on the advice of then-premier Shehbaz Sharif on August 9.
The president therefore invited the CC to meet him "today or tomorrow [Wednesday or Thursday] to fix an appropriate date" for elections.
The invitation on the part of the president has come at the heels of fears of a possible delay in elections after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to announce fresh delimitation of constituencies.
It may be noted that President Alvi and the ECP had earlier butted heads about the legal provisions regarding the announcement of elections as well.
In February, Alvi had pushed the ECP to hold elections for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhutnkhwa, unilaterally setting April 9 as the date of the vote.
The announcement had come after Alvi had invited the CEC for an ‘urgent meeting’ for consultations on the dates for the polls in K-P and Punjab. However, the ECP had declined to hold the consultation with the president.
Later, the ECP confirmed in a letter from the ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan that it could not participate in a consultative session with the president regarding the election dates, as the matter was already sub judice in the court of law.
The letter said that was the constitutional duty of the election commission to organise and conduct elections under Article 218(3) of the Constitution.
The CEC said that “the office of the president is the highest constitutional body and the president is head of the state whereas all other constitutional and legal bodies are under constitutional obligation to offer utmost respect for the president”.
“We are sure that it is impartial and expect paternal guidance from this prestigious in office towards other constitutional bodies”.
In its response to the president's invitation, the watchdog had furthered that the ECP abides by the constitution and the law and that its job was to conduct elections whereas the president and the governors were responsible for announcing election dates.
“The Election Commission is fully cognizant of its constitutional obligations to organise and conduct the election and has taken all necessary steps in this regard. It will not be out of place to mention here that the role of the president and the governor of a province is clearly mentioned in Article 48(5) and 105(3) of the Constitution respectively.”
It had added that the Constitution does not empower the electoral watchdog to fix a date for general election to an assembly in case of dissolution.
