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President Dr Arif Alvi Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and proposed November 6 as the date for elections.
In the letter, the president said he had dissolved the National Assembly on the prime minister’s advice on August 9.
The president cited Article 48(5) of the Constitution, which he said “empowers and mandates the president ‘to appoint a date not later than ninety days from the date of the dissolution, for the holding of a general election to the Assembly”.
In terms of Article 48(5) the general election to the National Assembly should be held by the eighty-ninth day of the date of dissolution of the National Assembly, i.e. Monday 6th Day of November 2023,” the letter stated.
It also read that in a bid to fulfil the constitutional obligations, the president invited CEC Sikander Sultan Raja for a meeting to devise the modalities of implementing the constitutional intent and mandate for appointing a date, but the latter took a “contrary view” that it was the Election Commission of Pakistan’s domain under the Constitution and framework of electoral laws.
Moreover, the CEC maintained that after the publication of Census 2023 on August 7, the duly notified delimitation of constituencies was in progress as required by Article 51(5) and section 17 of the Elections Act, 2017, the letter added.
It further stated that the Ministry of Law and Justice, all provincial governments also voiced the same opinion.
Furthermore, President Alvi also called for the general elections on the NA and all provincial assemblies to be conducted on the same date.
