The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has convened a meeting and passed a resolution calling on President Arif Alvi to fulfill his constitutional responsibility and announce a date for general elections.
The appeal comes as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) contemplates delaying the elections beyond the constitutionally mandated cutoff date of November 9 due to ongoing efforts to redraw boundaries of the constituencies in accordance with the new census.
According to ECP, it was bound to carry out delimitation process following the approval of the fresh census approved by the Council of Common Interests during the last month of Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government.
The PBC Chairman, Hassan Raza Pasha, stated that the president has the authority, as per Article 48(5) of the Constitution of Pakistan, to unilaterally announce the election date without the need for consultation or advice from any other entity.
He was talking to the media outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad following the meeting.
Attendees at the meeting, including chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the executive committees of bar councils from all provinces and Islamabad, as well as presidents of high court bar associations, collectively decided to stage a nationwide strike on September 9 to press for the prompt announcement of the election date.
Pasha outlined the planned activities for the strike, including peaceful rallies, public meetings, and waving black flags at various district and tehsil (sub-district) levels across the country.
This development occurs amidst a broader controversy regarding the timeline for the general elections and the authority responsible for determining the final election date.
The ECP has indicated that elections will not be held this year, while Article 224 of the Constitution mandates a 90-day period for holding elections following the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA), which occurred on August 9.
The ECP’s decision to extend elections beyond November 9 is based on the notification of results from the new digital 2023 census and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, which requires constituency delimitation after each official census publication.
However, President Arif Alvi previously invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to discuss setting an appropriate election date, citing his duty to adhere to the 90-day period prescribed by Article 224 of the Constitution. Nevertheless, a recent amendment to the Elections Act 2017 grants the ECP the authority to unilaterally announce election dates without the president’s consultation.
In response to the president’s invitation, the CEC asserted that such a meeting would hold little significance in light of the legislative change. Subsequently, President Alvi sought advice from the law ministry, which confirmed that the power to announce the election date rests with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Just recently, President Alvi discussed election-related matters with the caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam and underscored the importance of making decisions aligned with the spirit of the Constitution.
