DESPITE the recent Supreme Court verdict, the PDM government seems intent on preventing or, at the very least, delaying the KP and Punjab Assembly elections for as long as possible. According to recent reports, despite being constitutionally obligated, the finance and interior ministries have again denied the Election Commission of Pakistan the resources it needs to organise and hold the elections. Informed sources have told this paper that the needle hasn’t budged on releasing funds for the polls or providing personnel to ensure the security of the electoral process. On its part, the ECP has reminded the government representatives of their duty and asked them to requisition help if need be. However, it appears that the resistance is coming from other quarters as well. ECP officials met representatives of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies yesterday to work out a security plan for the peaceful conduct of polls. It is most disappointing to learn that the agencies in question have taken the same line as the government. The ECP was reportedly recommended that the polls should be delayed “owing to terrorism threats”. This is a clear abdication of responsibility by the country’s security apparatus. All stakeholders must realise that there are no ‘choices’ in the constitutional prescription for election timelines. If elections could be held in 2008, there is no reason why they cannot be held now.

It is similarly disconcerting that the KP governor — appointed by the PDM government — has still not arrived at a polling date for his province. Haji Ghulam Ali has already been reprimanded by the Supreme Court for being in breach of the Constitution for not having already announced an election date. With just a little over a month left in the original constitutional deadline, it is concerning that there is still no sense of urgency at his end. The intent appears to be to put off the announcement till the eleventh hour so that it becomes inevitable to delay polling well beyond the original deadline. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja will soon have to put his foot down if he wants the government to stop frustrating his efforts to fulfil his constitutional responsibilities. The longer polls get delayed, the more difficult it will be for the ECP to organise an election which is free of controversy and whose results are accepted by all.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023