ECP summons meeting after president announces election date

• ECP has summoned an important meeting after the president’s announcement
• The meeting will review the president announcement on election date
• President Alvi announced that election should be held on April 9

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned an important meeting on Tuesday (tomorrow) after the president announced the date for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to reports, the ECP has received the the statement issued by the President Secretariat’s press wing regarding the announcement of the date for elections of both projects.

The election commission has summoned a crucial meeting to review the president’s announcement and would take a decision according to the law and constitution.

The development comes President Arif Alvi unilaterally announced the date for holding elections for the provincial assemblies. The president said the election should be held on April 9.

The president said he was exercising his power under Section 57 (1) (notification of election programme) of the Elections Act, 2017. He further asked the electoral body to issue an election schedule in accordance with Section 57 (2) of the Act.

The President Secretariat’s Press Wing issued a statement quoting a letter sent by President Alvi to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja.

The president had summoned Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for an urgent meeting on February 20 for consultation regarding the election date.

However, the election commission excused itself from holding consultations with President Alvi, saying that the matter was under judicial consideration.

The CEC eventually decided against attending the meeting summoned by President Arif Alvi. The electoral watchdog maintained its stance of no need for consultation with the president on elections of provincial assemblies.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab and KP assemblies were dissolved on Jan 18 and Jan 14, respectively. As per the Constitution of Pakistan, polls need to be held for the dissolved assemblies in 90 days.

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