The President has said that he has taken this decision under oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as ECP and the KPK and Punjab governors did not give any date for elections in both the provinces.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Feb 20th, 2023) President Dr. Arif Alvi on Monday set April 9 as the date for by-elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The President made the announcement under Section 57 of the Election Act, 2017 for elections in the provinces.
The development took place after the Election Commission of Pakistan turned down the invitation of President Alvi for consultation on dates for the by-polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The PTI dissolved the KPK and Punjab assemblies before completion of their constitutional term in a bid to press the coalition partners for general elections.
However, the provincial governors in Punjab and KPK did not give any date for the by-polls despite repeated requests of the PTI.
Referring to a letter sent by President Alvi to the Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, the statement said the president had made the decision under Section 57(1) (notification of election programme) of the Elections Act, 2017 and was asking the CEC to issue the election programme under Section 57(2) of the same Act.
The President was of the view that he was “under oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” under its Article 42 (oath of president), he defended his announcement by adding that there was “no impediment in invoking the power and authority vested in him” as there was “no restraining order from any of the judicial fora”.
He also said that he had “felt it necessary to perform his constitutional and statutory duty to announce the date of elections to avoid the infringement and breach of the Constitution and law i.e. holding of elections not later than ninety days”.
(Developing story)
