ECP rejects govt's demand of holding senate elections early

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected the demand of the federal government to hold the Senate elections early and decided to hold the Senate elections on time instead.

All the provinces, except Sindh, chose to skip the meeting despite being invited. Senior PPP leader Taj Haider attended the meeting which was also joined by Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Law Murtaza Wahab and other representatives of the provincial government via video link.

ECP Secretary Dr. Nazir Akhtar told the meeting that the by-elections were overdue in two constituencies of the National Assembly and six of the provincial assemblies. These include three provincial assembly constituencies in Sindh and one each in the three other provinces besides one each National Assembly constituency in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Moreover, the Election Commission stated that the Senate has the power to hold elections from February 11 to March 11. However, due to by-elections, it is not possible to hold early Senate elections.

It is to be noted that the government had also decided to approach the Supreme Court for holding the Senate elections in February with a show of hands instead of March. Senior PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi opposed the move before March, saying the federal government was bypassing parliament. The government has always tried to bypass parliament.