President Dr. Arif Alvi urged Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in a recent letter to hold elections by November 6.
According to the PTI Core Committee, the President has performed his constitutionally mandated duties. The President has referred the case to the Supreme Court, according to the Core Committee statement. The eyes of the nation are now on the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ought to carry out its constitutional obligations, it said.
Welcoming the Dr. Arif Alvi’s letter, the PTI Core Committee stated in its statement that the Election Commission should be required to hold the poll before November 6 in reference to the President’s instructions.
The President of the country had stated in his letter that the Supreme Court should provide direction to the Election Commission regarding the schedule of provincial assemblies’ elections. The President said that the elections should be held on the 89th day after the dissolution of the Assembly. However, the interim prime minister said that the Election Commission would announce the date of the general elections.
Interesting enough, everyone—including the President—is announcing the election date, but the Election Commission of Pakistan, which is supposed to do so, isn’t.
The gist of the matter is that the former government gave its approval for the new census hours before its mandate was up. As for Pakistan People’s Party, who is now asking for an election albeit they don’t insist on elections within 90 days, they just want elections, be it in 120 days, 6 months or a year.
Ironically, the PPP and others who now call for elections to be held within the constitutional timeline seem to have forgotten Imran Khan, who consistently urged for polls but received no response. He was later disqualified and even thrown in prison for three years.
This is the worst treatment meted out to any prime minister in the country’s 76-year history, although precedents can be drawn from the past. Nawaz Sharif was also jailed and eventually left the country citing illness.
The crippling inflation that this country’s poorest citizens deal with is by far the biggest issue right now, but the unbelievable devolution of the dollar has also created a kind of dilemma as any political crisis, including the call for general elections, might lead to an economic crisis in such a situation, which must be avoided.
