Fawad Chaudhry: More than 90 days delay in elections would be unconstitutional

Former Federal Minister for Information and Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Fawad Chaudhry has said that any attempt to hold electi...

Former Federal Minister for Information and Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Fawad Chaudhry has said that any attempt to hold elections for more than 90 days would be a serious violation of the Constitution.

 

Fawad Chaudhry says in his tweet that the economy can not stand 7 months of political turmoil - file photo: AFP

Fawad Chaudhry said in his tweet that the economy could not tolerate 7 months of political chaos.

He said that the Election Commission should reconsider its position and any attempt to hold elections for more than 90 days would be a serious violation of the Constitution.

He wrote that Pakistan cannot be allowed to become Sri Lanka, elections are required within 90 days for early political stability.

Read also: The President wrote a letter to the Election Commission to hold elections in 90 days

Earlier, in response to a letter from the President, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had said that it would not hold the elections before October, saying that it was necessary to make constituencies in October 2022 for transparent elections. At least 4 more months are required.

The letter said that despite repeated letters from the Election Commission, the final publication of the census was not made in time.

In the letter, the ECP had stated that the responsibility for the government's delay could not be shifted to the ECP.

The letter said that an additional four months are needed for a fair, transparent and impartial election, which is likely to be held in October.

Read more: Election Commission under pressure on delimitation issue

It should be noted that the President Dr. Arif Alvi had written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the holding of general elections.

The letter asked the Election Commission to propose a date for holding elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly on April 3, 2022 under the Constitution of Pakistan.

In this regard, it was further stated that under Article 48 (5) (a) and Article 224 (2) of the Constitution, the President shall fix a date for holding general elections and this date shall not exceed 90 days of dissolution of the Assembly.

The letter said that under the Constitution, consultation with the Election Commission was required under the Election Act 2017 to announce the date of the general election.

Read also: It is not possible to hold general elections in three months, Election Commission

The letter was sent by the Presidency Secretariat at a time when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had expressed its inability to hold general elections within three months, citing various legal hurdles and procedural challenges. Was

A senior official told Dawn that preparations for the general election would take about six months.

He had said that the recent delimitation of constituencies, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the number of seats had been increased under the 26th Amendment, and the harmonization of district and constituency-wise electoral rolls were major challenges.

He added that demarcation is a time consuming task where the law only provides one month for raising objections and one more month for resolving them.

Also Read: Electoral Law Amendment Concerned For Election Commission

The official said it would take at least three months to complete the work, after which updating the voter lists would be another major task.

He said that procurement of election materials, management of ballot papers and appointment and training of polling staff were also among the challenges.

However, the Election Commission denied the allegations.

It may be recalled that on April 3, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri had rejected the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister, after which the Prime Minister had announced to dissolve the National Assembly.