ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: The government is set to miss the October 12 deadline for the holding of elections to “the Senate of Pakistan”.
The Conduct of General Elections (Fourth Amendment) Order, 2002, promulgated on Thursday, stated that the Senate elections would be held on the basis of existing mechanism provided in the Constitution and not as recommended by the National Reconstruction Bureau, proposing direct elections to the Senate on proportional representation basis.
The government, however, complicated the situation by announcing that elections to the Senate in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will be held on the basis of direct vote, an exercise identical to the election for national assembly.
When approached, Chief Election Commissioner Justice Irshad Hasan Khan said that holding of Senate elections before Oct 12, 2002, was “impossible.”
Asked whether it would constitute a violation of the Supreme Court judgment, the CEC, who is the author of the Supreme Court judgment which had fixed Oct 12, 2002, as the deadline for the return to the civilian rule, said he would not like to say more on the subject as he was no longer the Chief Justice of Pakistan and could only express his views as the CEC.
The election to the provincial assemblies will be held on October 12 and it would take at least three weeks before the assemblies get down to work, after taking oath and electing the leader of the house.
The provincial assemblies are the electoral college for the Senate elections, under the existing constitutional mechanism.
On June 10, the president had announced that the elections to the national and provincial assemblies and the Senate, shall be held on October 10.
The SC judgment, validating the military takeover, had directed the Chief Executive to appoint a date for holding of elections not later than 90 days before the expiry of three-year period given to the military government.
The validity of the present regime is inter-linked and intertwined with the holding of elections before Oct 11, 2002.
Junaid Iqbal, a retired additional secretary, National Assembly, told Dawn that at least fifteen days were required before election results could be notified.
Once the notification is issued, the president and the governors summon the national and provincial assemblies’ sessions, respectively, for the oath of the newly elected, which normally continue for three days, followed by the election of the speakers and deputy speakers.
After the election of speaker and deputy speaker, the members elect the leader of the house. “The whole process takes more than three weeks,” the official, who has seen five national assemblies get down to work, said.
Abid Hasan Minto, a prominent constitutional expert, told Dawn that, strictly speaking, going beyond the deadline would be a violation of the judgment. He, however, said if the substantial elections were held, there was hardly any chance of going back to the Supreme Court. He said “it all depends on the ‘intent’ of the military government.”
