ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to immediately announce the election schedule for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies or else it would be held responsible for violation of the Constitution.
President Arif Alvi, according to a press release issued by the President’s Secretariat, has made the appeal in a letter he penned to Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja.
Dr Alvi has reminded the Chief Election Commissioner that Article 224(2) stipulates that elections should be held within 90 days if an assembly has been dissolved before time. The president further said ECP’s primary job was to conduct and hold elections.
“Thus, it is ultimately the Commission, which if it fails to discharge its functions and duties, is to be held responsible and answerable for the violation of our Constitution,” he warned the ECP.
Referring to his oath of preserving and defending the Constitution, President Alvi reminded the CEC and the ECP members about their fundamental duty as per their oath under Article 214 and Third Schedule of the Constitution.
Dr Alvi reminded the ECP chief and members that they should announce the election date to avoid serious consequences of breach and violation of the Constitution and law.
The president also highlighted that the “oldest democracies had never delayed elections even during wars”. He highlighted the example of former United States presidents James Madison and Abraham Lincoln who went ahead with elections despite their country being at war.
“I am of the firm view that there are no such circumstances as may furnish any justification for delaying or postponing of elections, in fact if such postponements of constitutionally mandated elections are evaluated throughout the world in recent history, they have morphed into serious long term set-backs to democracy,” said Dr Alvi.
