ISLAMABAD: Amid a deadlock on the issue of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to seek the intervention of the judiciary in a bid to conduct polls in two provinces within the stipulated timescale.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the election watchdog chaired by its chief Sikandar Sultan Raja on Wednesday. The huddle discussed legal and constitutional options in detail, available with the watchdog over the issue of elections.

It also took stock of the situation arising out of the flat refusal of Governor Balighur Rehman who insisted that he would not give a date for elections since he did not dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

An ECP official told Dawn that the ECP was a constitutional body and was committed to meeting its constitutional obligations. He said the ECP cannot fix a date for the elections on its own, pointing out that under Article 105 (3) it was the duty of the governor to decide a date no later than 90 days after the dissolution of a provincial assembly.

CJP calls on election watchdog to comply with high court order

“We go by the law, not by the popular will of the people,” the official remarked. He pointed out that the Lahore High Court (LHC) had also directed the ECP to consult the governor for timely polls.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the Election Commission to immediately announce the date for elections in Punjab. Justice Jawad Hassan had ruled that the ECP was bound to conduct elections within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution and that it should issue the schedule.

The PTI on Jan 27 approached the LHC seeking orders for elections date in the province.

Separately on Wednesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial asked the electoral watchdog to comply with LHC directions that obligated the commission to consult the Punjab governor for an election date.

The observation came when Muhammad Arshad, director general for law at the Election Commission of Pakistan, told a three-judge Supreme Court bench that the ECP had a consultative meeting with Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on Tuesday and the latter’s stance was that he might opt for a legal course, which suggested that an intra-court appeal might be filed before the high court for clarity.

The bench, also consisting of Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Athar Minallah, was hearing petitions filed by dissident PTI MPAs against their disqualification.

“What is the election commission now doing after the [Lahore] High Court’s order?” Justice Bandial asked.

To this, Mr Arshad replied that the ECP held discussions about it with the Punjab governor on Tuesday, but the “meeting minutes have not been received yet”. He added that the governor might take the legal route on the matter.

At this, Justice Malik observed that ECP was an independent constitutional institution and questioned the need of holding consultation with the governor.

Justice Athar Minallah, however, observed that perhaps the high court had directed the commission to consult the governor.

At this, the CJP observed that if this was the direction of the high court, then the commission must comply with it.

The court observed that the Election Commission should comply with the directions of the high court, but it rejected the appeals for being infructuous since the assembly had been dissolved.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2023