Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to address concerns raised by political parties regarding the February 8 general elections.

In an interview with Dawn News programme ‘Doosra Rukh’ on Saturday night, he said: “It would be better if the election commission calls a high-level meeting of these political parties before the elections or a few days after them, and takes action after hearing their concerns.”

His statement comes amid reservations voiced by certain political circles on holding general elections on Feb 8, as scheduled by the election commission, due to security concerns.

On Friday, the Senate passed a resolution, moved by independent Senator Dilawar Khan with only 15 lawmakers in attendance, seeking to delay the polls due to security concerns.

However, the passage of the resolution was roundly criticised by various political parties, while the caretaker information minister had insisted that there was no directive of the prime minister or the federal cabinet for a delay. The Supreme Court was also subsequently approached to declare the resolution illegal and act against its backers.

The next day, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed submitted a fresh resolution in the upper house, emphasising the need to ensure the timely conduct of the polls.

In an interview last night, Governor Ali stated that it was the provincial government’s duty to “improve the law and order situation and protect the people”.

He said the federal government and state institutions were also responsible for the same, highlighting that the army had agreed to deploy troops and provide the requisite support.

The KP governor mentioned the issues of “law and order, 18-hour-long load-shedding, and toughest winter” that were hindering polls. He said the reason why people were questioning whether the elections would take place or not was that a “tempo is not being created”.

“In other areas where there is winter as well as snow — including Naran, Kalam, Swat and Chitral — people there say how will we encourage our votes to come out [and vote],” Governor Ali said, adding that there were reports forecasting snowfall in Peshawar as well.

He added that he heard these concerns and told people that the date for the polls had been officially announced now. Ali further stated that none of the parties he had talked to “wanted the elections to not take place” but rather their “demand was for peace and protection”.

Ali said it was his “respectful request and suggestion” to the ECP to sit with the political parties and “convince” them how it could provide them protection.

He stated that the constitutional timeframe of polls being held within 90 days of the National Assembly’s dissolution had passed “so elections should take place” but the reservations should be considered.

The governor said Peshawar was facing the “toughest winter” and asked, “Which voter would come out [of their homes] in this situation?”