Daily Times

In a significant development, the prolonged political impasse that gripped Pakistan for nearly two years may finally be coming to an end as Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and President Dr Arif Alvi, acting on the instructions of Supreme Court of Pakistan, unanimously agreed on Thursday to hold general elections in the country on February 8, 2024.

“On today’s (Thursday) order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, Mr Sikandar Sultan Raja, along with the Attorney General for Pakistan, Mr Mansoor Usman Awan, and four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan, came to meet President Dr Arif Alvi, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, to discuss the date for holding the forthcoming General Elections in the country,” read a statement issued by the Presidency.

It said the president heard about the progress the ECP has made in delimitation and for elections, adding that after a detailed discussion, the meeting unanimously agreed to hold general elections in the country on February 8, 2024. During the meeting, CEC Raja had officially put forward February 11, 2024, as the proposed date for the upcoming general elections to the presidency.

The political standoff had its origins in the aftermath of the no-confidence motion that removed former prime minister Imran Khan from office back in April 2022.

This impasse reached its culmination with the dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies in January of the current year. This dissolution prompted calls for the holding of provincial elections in compliance with the constitutional requirement within 90-days.

The matter was subsequently taken up by the then chief justice of the Supreme Court, Umar Ata Bandial, who alongside other two member of the bench announced May 14, 2023, as the election date for Punjab. However, the former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), relying on intelligence reports and citing financial implications, proposed to defer the elections in the province.

Notably, the previous PDM government had introduced amendments empowering the ECP to independently determine the election date, bypassing the involvement of the president.

With the elevation of Justice Qazi Faez Isa to the helm of the Supreme Court, the apex court revisited the pressing matter that had cast a shadow over the nation’s political landscape. The main contention revolved around the election delay, with the former ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), primarily alleging that relevant stakeholders were attempting to exclude them from the electoral race.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court resumed hearings on pleas presented by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and Ibadur Rehman Lodhi, all advocating for elections to be conducted within the constitutionally mandated 90-day period following the dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies.

Subsequently, the court directed the ECP officials to confer with the president regarding the proposed election date of February 11.

The announcement of the finalised date for general elections will be made from the apex court, remarked Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa.

The ECP delegation, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, met with the president, and they reached a unanimous agreement on setting February 8, 2024, as the date for the polls. The presidential office subsequently confirmed this decision, and the ECP officially validated the announcement through a press release.

“Today, under the supervision of Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Sikandar Sultan Raja, the honourable members of the Election Commission called on the President of Pakistan regarding the date of the election at Presidency. It was unanimously decided that the elections will be held on Thursday, February 8,” it stated.

Attorney General for Pakistan, Mansoor Awan also held meetings with the president and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials as instructed by the apex court.

The development comes after a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, and including Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah, directed the attorney general to facilitate a meeting between the Chief Election Commissioner and the President.

The bench also mandated the relevant authorities to submit the final election date to the court on Friday when the hearing resumes. During the meeting, ECP officials, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidance, proposed February 11 as the recommended date for conducting the general elections. 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, 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. 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.

However, he said fixing date polls is the mandate of the ECP.

PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui said the ECP announcement is a positive development as it will ensure stability in the country.

“I welcome this development even more because the announcement came from Supreme Court which has increased its sanctity,” he remarked.

PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar termed the SC proceedings as “histori” as ambiguity regarding the polls ended with it.

“Someone said the polls will be staged while someone said polls will not be staged. It was a worrisome situation,” the senator said while talking to media after the SC hearing Zafar said that the SC made it clear that the elections were supposed to be staged within 90 days of the dissolution of assemblies.

He then called on the ECP to release an election schedule as per the Constitution after consultation with President Arif Alvi as directed by the court. The good news of elections has been received after a long time, he added.