Days after the Lahore High Court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to immediately announce the date for elections in Punjab, the electoral watchdog on Monday sought a meeting with the governor to consult him on the matter.

According to a handout released by the ECP, the commission has requested Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to schedule a meeting on Feb 14 (Tuesday) to discuss the date for provincial elections.

The handout said that Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja presided over a meeting today — that included ECP Secretary Umer Hameed and other senior officials and members — to discuss the “implementation” of the LHC order.

The commission said it had written a letter to Rehman to suggest “an appropriate time” for tomorrow’s meeting.

It added that the electoral body had appointed the ECP secretary to head the discussions with the governor, along with ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain and Director General (Law) Mohammad Arshad.

The designated ECP team would then brief the commission about the talks so that it could decide on the future strategy for conducting polls in the province.

Delay in polls

The Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies — where the PTI had governments — were dissolved on January 14 and January 18, respectively, in an attempt to pave the way for snap polls.

On Jan 24, the ECP wrote letters to the principal secretaries of Punjab and KP governors, suggesting elections in Punjab between April 9 and 13, and in KP between April 15 and 17.

The PTI had on Jan 27 approached the LHC seeking orders for the Punjab governor to immediately announce a date for an election in the province.

The LHC had subsequently directed the ECP to immediately announce the date for elections after consultation with the governor, in his capacity as the constitutional head of the province.

President Arif Alvi had also urged the ECP on Feb 8 to “immediately announce” the date for polls in KP and Punjab and put an end to “dangerous speculative propaganda” on both the provincial assembly and general elections.

However, so far, the governors of the two provinces have refra­ined from providing any date for the polls on several pretexts.

Last week, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali met his Punjab counterpart Rehman and agreed that the country could not afford separate elections in the current circumstances and, therefore, polls for national and provincial assemblies should be held later this year after the completion of the federal government’s tenure in August.

“Pakistan can’t afford two separate elections as billions of rupees will be spent on the exercise,” the Punjab governor had told reporters after the meeting.

“As the general elections are going to take place later this year, demand for an early election in two provinces seems out of place keeping in view economic woes of the country.”

He had also hinted at a possible delay in polls, saying political forces should focus on finding solutions to fix the financial and security situation and not the elections.

The government’s intention not to hold polls in the two provinces within 90 days has added to the PTI’s frustration which has linked its ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ with the inordinate delay.