ECP discusses KP, Punjab polls today

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will hold a series of key meetings today (Tuesday) to determine the fate of general elections to the legislatures of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The electoral processes in the two provinces face ifs and buts, though the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a few days back, in a split 3-2 verdict called for the holding of the general elections within the stipulated time with a delay of minimum days in view of technical reasons.

A meeting, scheduled for the day, will review the arrangements for elections in Punjab due on April 30. The meeting will be attended by caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Chief Secretary Punjab and Inspector General Police (IGP) and others. They are expected to mainly focus on the law and order situation in the province and terrorism threats.

Another important meeting will see the possibility of the armed forces' availability for election duties. The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defence and Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) to discuss the deployment of troops for the upcoming general polls to the two provinces. Already, the intelligence agencies, in their briefing, last week, have suggested to the ECP to delay the elections for three to four months, saying the time, presently is not suitable for such electoral processes.

Last week, the ECP invited Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Haji Ghulam Ali for final consultation to fix a date for the election to the provincial assembly, as the first round of consultations between him and the commission’s team failed to yield results. Interestingly, according to a senior official at the ECP, hitherto, the governor had not confirmed to attend the meeting, and this may mean that he will stay away from the scheduled meeting at the Election Commission Secretariat.

One of these meetings is with Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Haji Ghulam Ali for consultation on the date for elections to the KP Assembly. Meanwhile, the ECP Monday considered the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s petition regarding the imposition of Section 144 at its rally in Lahore and wrote to Punjab chief secretary for a factual report on the matter.

According to the ECP’s Media Coordination and Outreach Wing, the ECP considered the related petition filed by senior party leader Babar Awan a day earlier on behalf of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The ECP has decided to take a factual report from the provincial government of Punjab and in this regard, a letter has been issued to the chief secretary in which it has been said that the ECP is bound to conduct transparent and peaceful elections under the Constitution.

Therefore, the ECP said keeping in view the text of PTI’s request, a comprehensive report be shared with the ECP by tomorrow (Tuesday) so that it can be presented before the ECP and further course of action should be considered.

PTI has challenged the imposition of Section 144 in Lahore and alleged the caretaker provincial government resorted to this step only to bar it from holding the election-related rally.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission will resume hearing in the contempt of the ECP and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja here on March 14. Last week, it had issued bailable arrest warrants of Imran and Fawad Chaudhry in the contempt of the chief election commissioner cases against these two PTI leaders. However, these have been suspended by Lahore High Court.

Last year, the ECP had issued notices of contempt to Imran, Fawad and Asad for using intemperate, un-parliamentary and contemptuous remarks against the ECP while two separate notices were issued to Imran and Fawad in the contempt of the chief election commissioner on the same charges.

In another development, the ECP has delisted a case for hearing, fixed for March 14 regarding the intra-party election in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), notices for which have been issued to its President Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal. According to the cause list, issued for the day, no reason has been given for delisting the case, which has been done by the order of the authority.