Islamabad:Pakistan's political parties have demanded an exact polling date from the election commission, a day after it announced that the general election will be held in the "final week of January 2024". The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a vague timeline for elections without disclosing a specific date for the polls, sparking mixed reactions from politicians.
HUM News TV, in a story, highlighted the reaction of various parties to the ECP announcement. The main opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), rued that the ECP failed to announce a definitive date and demanded clarity. The election commission has not provided a definitive date yet, PPP leader Shazia Marri said.
Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal said that his party welcomed the decision by the ECP as it has ended the uncertainty about the delimitation. "Everyone knew from the first day that the election commission was bound to conduct delimitation after the census," he said.
Iqbal said that uncertainty should end after the announcement of polls and all political parties should start preparations now. "It is important that the elections are held peacefully and a stable government is formed that takes the country out of the economic crisis," the former planning minister was quoted as saying by Geo News. He added that any party that comes into power should take all the parties on the same page and work on the economic agenda with consensus.
Commenting on the uncertainty surrounding the election date, PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira stressed that a level playing field and a clear and transparent election process were essential. The ECP had on Thursday said in an official statement that it had assessed the progress of constituency delimitation and decided to release the initial list for constituency delimitation on September 27.
Following a period of consideration of objections and suggestions regarding this process, the final list will be unveiled on November 30. It had said that by the end of delimitation, it would announce a 54-day election programme after November 30 and polls will be held in the last week of January 2024.
The HUM News TV report quoted the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), another opposition party, which has also sought clarity on the final election date. It quoted PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal as saying, Once the process of constituency delimitation is completed, the ECP should announce the final election date. We need to put an end to this uncertainty.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, however, has questioned the ECP's authority to announce the election date. A media report quoted PTI leader Ali Zafar as saying, The election commission's election date is beyond the constitutional date. The constitution mandates that elections should be held within 90 days of the assemblies' dissolution. Announcing the election date is the president's prerogative.
Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi defended the ECP's decision and said that elections were proceeding as per the Constitution. He said that the ECP would complete all proceedings by November 30 and publish the final list of constituencies after hearing objections and suggestions regarding constituency delimitation.
The Dawn newspaper, in its editorial, stated that the ECP announcement has made it clear that President Arif Alvi's letter about holding early elections was consigned to the dustbin shortly after it was received. A time line has been given, but, as the proverb goes, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, Dawn wrote.
It was sceptical about the ECP's commitment considering the number of U-turns it has already taken this year. At the heart of this uncertainty is the ECP's questionable posture that it is some kind of supra-constitutional authority that can delay elections for however long it feels necessary, according to the paper, adding if the ECP wishes to affirm that it is serious, it should start moving on all pending matters so that the possibility of any further delay is minimised.
The ECP also needs to take up without delay the complaints regarding the absence of a level playing field made by two major parties, the Dawn said and added, that the country cannot afford another election to be tainted by accusations of pre-poll rigging. The Express Tribune newspaper commented that the eagerly-awaited announcement by the ECP has apparently cleared the political fog surrounding the election timing and rekindled hopes of political and economic stability. (PTI)
