DNA
The Chief Justice asked all parties whether they are happy with this date, when all of them nodded positively then the Supreme Court said if you have no objection then we also do not have any problem . The apex court observed that it was right of the President to announce date but we cannot understand why the President did not do so. If he had nay ambiguity he should have resorted to the apex court under article 186. The matter uncessarssarily laded in the supreme court due to inaction of the President and the Election Commission.
Earlier, President Arif Alvi and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja Thursday agreed that the general elections will be staged in the country on February 8, 2024.
The development came after an ECP delegation headed by CEC Raja and Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan met Alvi at the President’s Secretariat to discuss the poll date, a statement from Alvi’s office said.
“It was [then] unanimously decided that the election will be held on Thursday, February 8,” the statement added.
The meeting between the sides was on orders of the Supreme Court, which had instructed the election commission to consult with the president and inform the SC about the poll date on Friday (today).
The ECP — in Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing of petitions calling for timely polls across the country — had told the top court that polls would be held on February 11, but the SC asked the commission to consult with the president.
Following the consensus, AGP Awan and CEC Raja will inform the top court about the decision.
The court — in the order issued after the hearing — had instructed the AGP to arrange the meeting between ECP and Alvi, provide the president with the court order, and be available to render assistance.
“We expect that the matter of appointing a date for holding general elections shall be settled, and this court will be informed tomorrow (Friday),” the top court said in the order.
Major political parties welcome development
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the three major political parties of the country, had welcomed the ECP announcement that elections in the country will take place on February 11, 2024.
Welcoming the ECP’s announcement, PPP’s Nayyer Bukhari has said that his party has been calling for holding timely elections.
“Unelected individual or cabinet do not have right to rule the country… the elections should have been held within 90 days as per the Constitution,” he said while speaking to Geo News.
PML-N senior leader Ayaz Sadiq welcomed the announcement saying that it’s a positive development and that the process to hold elections has commenced.
