Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Ghulam Ali stated that the KP Assembly election date is anticipated to be declared on March 6 (Monday), when the province’s chief secretary opens the letter from the Election Commission on Pakistan (ECP).
The ECP’s letter to the governor’s principal secretary was received last night at 8 o’clock, the governor said in a press conference on Saturday. The letter will be opened by the secretary when he returns on Monday, who is now on leave.
In an earlier interview with a news channel, he stated: “It would have been better if the three of us—President Alvi, Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, and I had sat down and discussed our options after hearing from one another and learning about the actions taken by the election commission.”
He said, “But perhaps he deemed it appropriate to give a date by himself.”
It should be remembered that on January 14 and January 18, accordingly, the Punjab and KP assemblies were disbanded. Elections must be held by the constitution 90 days after an assembly has been dissolved.
Nevertheless, because the governors were unwilling to provide a date, the matter was brought before the Supreme Court (SC), which in its ruling ordered President Arif Alvi to declare the date of the Punjab elections after consulting with the ECP and the governor of the KP to do the same after consulting with the commission.
President Alvi declared that elections in Punjab will be conducted on April 30 a day earlier, just hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) gave him a letter outlining potential election dates — between April 30 and May 7 — for Punjab.
In addition, according to the ECP’s news release, the electoral authority had addressed the KP governor in a letter and was awaiting his response about the province’s election schedule.
Days before the declaration, the Supreme Court had decided that the elections for the Punjab and KP assemblies should take place within the allotted 90 days. However, in the event of any practical difficulties, it permitted the ECP to recommend a poll date that differs from the 90-day deadline by the “bare minimum”.
Governor Ali stated in his interview today that “if we make choices in this way, it will create complications and as far as his assigning a date, I think there is a stark contrast between the condition of Punjab and KP.”
