General elections in Pakistan will be held on February 11, the election commission informed the Supreme Court on Thursday, putting an end to months-long uncertainty over the polls.
The Election Commission of Pakistan's counsel, Sajeel Swati, said the process of drawing constituencies would be completed by January 29, paving the way for the polls.
He said this as the apex court resumed hearing on a set of petitions calling for holding elections within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures. Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on August 9.
The announcement coincides with the beginning of negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of USD 710 million second tranche of a USD 3 billion loan to the cash-strapped country to stabilise its debt-ridden economy. The clarity on the election date will strengthen the hands of the Ministry of Finance during the talks, although the IMF has not explicitly attached any such condition.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up the pleas moved by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The ECP had earlier ruled out polls this year citing the need for fresh delimitation of constituencies.
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, Article 224 of the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7.
But at the same time, Section 17(2) of the Elections Act states that the commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.
Last month, the commission announced that elections would be held in January 2024 but stopped short of announcing a date.
As the hearing resumed on Thursday, Pakistan Peoples Party lawyer Farooq H Naek appeared in the apex court and requested to become a respondent in the case. He was given a green light from the judges after PTI's lawyer Ali Zafar said he had no objections to the request.
Zafar contended that polls should be held within 90 days. However, CJP Isa said, Your request for polls within 90 days has now become ineffective.
The PTI lawyer insisted that his argument was connected with a fundamental right, to which Justice Isa asked if the former just wanted elections now. Zafar replied in the affirmative.
President Alvi had written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on September 13 in which he proposed that elections be held by November 6. However, the Ministry of Law and Justice later informed Alvi that the powers to announce the poll date rested with the ECP, not the president.
During the hearing, Justice Minallah asked why it took the president so long to write the letter to the ECP. On the other hand, the chief justice noted that the text of the said letter was vague.
The CJP said that holding elections was good and not a problem.
The ECP's lawyer, while sharing the schedule with the apex court, said that all arrangements including delimitation will be completed by January 29.
Explaining the delimitation process, the lawyer said it would take them 3 to 5 days to issue the final lists. He added that if 54 days are counted from December 5 then we get the January 29 date.
The lawyer said that the ECP was looking to hold the polls on Sunday to make it easier for the people to participate in the elections. He added that under this plan the first Sunday would have fallen on February 4 and the second would be on February 11.
"We decided on our own that elections should be held on Sunday, February 11," said the lawyer.
On hearing this, CJP Isa directed the lawyer to ask the chief election commissioner to consult the president and get back to the court.
The decision has garnered mixed reactions from political parties. The JUI-F has opposed the timing of polls due to weather conditions, while the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party threw weight behind the ECP.
The PPP and PTI, on the other hand, have called for the immediate announcement of the election date and assurance of a level playing field. PTI NSA AKJ NSA NSA 11021530
