President likely to announce election date anytime soon

 

ISLAMABAD  – Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar Monday said Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would decide about the date for the upcoming elections.

In an interview with Dunya News, he said parliament had passed a law according to which Election Commission had the power to announce the date for new elections.

Speculation regarding the elections should end as these would be held according to the prevalent law, he said adding, “We have no intention to prolong tenure of the caretaker government.”

He said as a student of history of Pakistan, he would express gratitude to Quaid-e-Azam for protecting rights of the Muslim minority and saving it from the domination of majority.

After seeing the attitude of bigger states against the minorities, he said he could see that it would have been difficult to protect the religious and cultural identity of Muslims if Quaid had not secured an independent state for Muslims.

He said he admired Quaid-e-Azam for his constitutionalism, all- inclusiveness and for protection of rights of minorities. The prime minister assured that action against smuggling would continue and the writ of the state would be established.

“We are taking these actions so that the new government with its mandate can easily continue our work for public interest.”

He said the apex committee of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) included current military leadership, thus making the council a strong constitutional and legal body which was taking firm actions and implementing decisions.

The caretaker federal and provincial governments had good coordination which was helpful in implementing decisions, he noted.

He said the SIFC was focusing on economic revival and on sectors of agriculture and mineral extraction. Work would be done on major plans of investment so that they could be at an advanced stage when the next government would take over, he told.

He said Pakistan had multifaceted relations with Afghanistan and had regular discussions with it on issues of trade, terrorism, security and regional connectivity.

Both sides were talking with the realization that neighbors could not be changed, he added.

To a question about rising incidents of terrorism in the country, he said the terrorists had now more latest weapons, night vision goggles and other equipment which had increased their capacity to fight.

However, he made it clear that the terrorists could not take away an inch of territory of Pakistan and the security forces would respond and manage the situation.

The state would show its firmness against terrorists as in no condition anyone would be allowed to resort to violence, he stressed.

PM Kakar said there was no restriction on Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) for taking part in the elections. Talking about incidents of May 9, he said miscreants resorted to vandalism and arson and the whole incident was reported by the local and international media.

The accused involved in the incident would be dealt with according to the law of the land, he continued. He said Nawaz Sharif was thrice elected prime minister and when he would come back to Pakistan he would be treated according to law.

He clarified that he had no intention to start meetings with the leadership of political parties. To a question about Pakistan’s foreign policy, he said Pakistan had good relations with all countries, adding China was on the verge of becoming the largest economy of the world and the western world led by US was anxious about it and wanted to contain its influence.

Pakistan had adopted the policy of Look Africa to improve its relations with the continent which had a population of more than a billion people, he informed.

He said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman would visit Pakistan on a mutually agreed time when both sides would be ready to announce projects for investment.

Responding to a question, he said Kashmir was part of body, soul and collective memory of Pakistan and Kashmiris aligned themselves with Pakistan. The PM said sports including cricket should not be politicized and the issues concerning cricket with India should only be raised by officials of cricket board.

“We are making Pakistan a secure country for sports. But we cannot force a country to play in Pakistan,” he commented.

He said he met with vice chancellors of universities in a meeting during his visit to Quetta and now he would meet with officials of Higher Education Commission to resolve issues facing the education sector with a focused attention.He said the government would soon decide about the issue of giving relief to the electricity consumers.

Earlier,

President Arif Alvi is likely to give a date for next general elections in Pakistan anytime, sources said on Monday.

It comes after the president held a meeting with caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam to hold consultation regarding elections.

“The continuation of the consultation process with good intentions will prove to be productive for the democracy in the country,” the president remarked.

Sources said the law minister told the president that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had the authority to announce a date for elections.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has written a letter to President Alvi, urging him to immediately give a date for polls in the country.

The National Assembly was dissolved last month days before the completion of its constitutional term to clear the way for holding elections within 90 days. The constitution states that election should be held within 60 days if assemblies are dissolved on completion of five-year term and in case of premature dissolution, the stipulated period is enhanced to 90 days.

As per the Constitution, the general elections in Pakistan must be held till November 2023 as the National Assembly had been dissolved prematurely on August 9, 2023. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has hinted at delay in the polls as it has decided to go for fresh delimitation in line with the digital census.

Last month, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sultan Sikandar Raja said a recent amendment to the Clause 57 of Election Act meant that giving election date was the sole prerogative of the ECP as he responded to the letter sent by President Arif Alvi.

According to the ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] spokesperson, the CEC had sent a written response to the president, in which it mentioned that he [Raja] won’t meet him to discuss the election date issue.

The letter said the last National Assembly was dissolved under Article 58 (1) [just days before the completion of its tenure] on the advice of prime minister [Shehbaz Sharif]. Had the president dissolved the legislature after it completed the five-year term, he would have enjoyed the power to announce election date under Article 58 (2) which wasn’t the case, it added.

Moreover, the CEC also noted in the letter that the process to carry out delimitation had started on the basis of new census.
The response came after Mr Alvi invited Raja for a meeting to fix a date for elections – a move that raised many eyebrows as the electoral body has now been empowered to decide the matter without having to consult the president.

Alvi quoted Article 244 of the Constitution, saying he was duty-bound to get the elections conducted in the 90-day period once the National Assembly was dissolved prematurely. He also cited Article 48 (5) to argue his case.