The latest announcement from ECP about general elections scheduled in the last week of January 2024 has come as a bittersweet reflection on the state of our beloved democracy. On one hand, some normalcy might finally be restored as the ECP appears to have enjoyed its dilly-dallying on the most important guarantee of the constitution: uninterrupted rule of people through elected representatives in the legislature. However, it would take an extraordinary level of oblivion to take this temporary break in the prevalent intrigue as a sign of our commitment to the founding principles. The ECP cannot close its eyes to the fact that it has been ignoring the constitution, election after election. There’s no telling if it would abide by the much-talked-about Section 57 of the Election Act and actually announce the election schedule within the next five days. Going by the word of the street, a tentative announcement cannot be pursued as a solid line of action because it might have been brought to the fore in desperation to end a will/won’t confusion. There are rampant speculations about the interim setup intending to remain in power beyond its constitutional mandate and the fact that the election commission sees no harm in holding polls three months after the predicted deadline emboldens what has already been written on the wall. The upcoming general elections are supposed to be a breakout point, a necessary fresh start. It can only be hoped that the authorities would take their sweet while to ensure a level playing field is offered to all parties and the nation can finally step into the next act when elections are actually held. In this regard, listening to reservations by the likes of PPP against arrangements done to tilt the scales in one party’s favour at the expense of the credibility of the entire exercise would be a good starting point. *