President Alvi calls CEC Raja
In order to “fix an appropriate date” for the general elections, President Arif Alvi has asked Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to a meeting today or tomorrow.
Today, Alvi sent a letter to the CEC citing the constitution’s mandate that the president set the date of the general elections within 90 days following the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA).
The president observed in the letter, which was published on the Presidency’s account on X, that the NA was dissolved on August 9 — three days ahead of its predetermined period — at the instruction of the then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In addition, the letter stated that “by virtue of Article 48(5) obligeof [the] assembly”.
He continued by inviting the CEC to meet with him today or tomorrow to determine a “appropriate date” for elections.
The Elections Act of 2017 was recently amended, giving the Election Commission of Pakistan the authority to declare the dates for elections without first consulting the president, despite the fact that the president has referenced the constitutional provisions that detail his responsibility in making that decision.
Alvi’s invitation to the CEC also comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan announced that elections would not be held this year as a result of the notification of the most recent digital census in 2023.
Elections must be held within 90 days following the dissolution of the assembly, and as the NA was dissolved three days before the end of its legal term, this requirement applies.
The Elections Act, however, also says in Section 17(2) that “the commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.”
Accordingly, the ECP announced last week that the process of redrawing the boundaries of national and provincial assembly constituencies was anticipated to be finished by December 14 – more than a month after the constitutionally required timeframe for holding general elections.
The electoral watchdog was not required by law to “immediately” conduct out new constituency delimitation after the official publication of census results, a commission official was quoted as saying in a Dawn article after the ECP’s statement last week.
“President bound by advice of PM”
Chairman of Islamabad-based public policy think tank Pildat Ahmed Bilal Mehboob shared his thoughts on the president’s letter to the CEC, saying that it appeared like Alvi was seeking to use his prerogative under Article 48.
He told Geo News that the president could not unilaterally utilize this power since he was constrained by the prime minister’s counsel.
“The president’s letter is in accordance with the Constitution if it is based on the prime minister’s recommendations. If not, it departs from the Constitution, he continued. The president does not have the discretionary right to choose the date for the elections.
Regarding the most recent changes to the Elections Act, he stated that the Constitution came first and that the president could not independently choose an election date without the prime minister’s advice.
He also disagreed with the ECP’s claim that elections should be held following a new delineation of constituencies.”In my opinion, this interpretation is inadequate. Elections are required by the Constitution, in my opinion. Delimitations are not required under the Constitution, in my opinion.
