President has no role in announcing election date: Law Ministry

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law has informed President Dr Arif Alvi that he has no role in the announcement of the election date following the amendment in the Election Act.

The law ministry submitted its response after President Alvi wrote a letter, seeking clarification after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) maintained it had the sole prerogative to announce election dates.

The law ministry said that the authority to announce the election date rests with the ECP after the recent amendment to the Elections Act, 2017.

The ministry said according to Article 48(5) of the Constitution, “where the National Assembly is dissolved by the President, he shall appoint a date for election and appoint a caretaker cabinet in accordance with the provision of Article 224 or as the case may be under Article 224-A.”

The letter noted the President shall act on and in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister and such advice shall be binding on him. It added that advice sent under Article 58(A) shall take effect within 48 hours.

The ministry further said that the system will witness a distortion if the president’s authority to give an election date is accepted. It said the purpose of amending the Election Act was to have a single authority to give the election date.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had turned down an invite by President Alvi seeking to “fix an appropriate date” for general elections.

The CEC replied that the meeting would be of “scant importance” after changes to the election law. He said the prerogative to announce the elections lies with the election commission.

The president had written a letter to the CEC, inviting him for a meeting regarding holding general elections after the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9.

President Alvi quoted Article 244 of the Constitution, saying he was “duty-bound to get the elections conducted in the 90 days” period prescribed after the National Assembly was dissolved prematurely.

The CEC said it was imperative to point out that Section 57 of the Elections Act had been amended due to an act of Parliament, which empowers the commission to “announce the date or dates for the general elections”