ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) petitioned the Supreme Court for the postponement in Punjab elections.
The joint plea was submitted by PTI leaders Asad Umar and Mian Mahmoodur Rashid, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and Punjab Assembly Speaker Muhammad Sibtain Khan. They have named the Election Commission of Pakistan, the federal government, the governments of Punjab and KP, and others as respondents in the complaint.
The news comes only days after the electoral commission postponed the Punjab polls from April 30 to October 8, citing security and budgetary concerns.
The ECP said in the judgement that it “hereby withdraws the election programme […] and a revised schedule will be published in due course with poll date on October 8” in exercise of the powers granted to it by Article 218(3) read with Section 58 and Section 8(c) of the Elections Act, 2017.
On March 1, the Supreme Court declared that elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must be conducted within the constitutionally mandated time of 90 days. After the ruling, the ECP and President Arif Alvi agreed to conduct elections on April 30 in Punjab, while KP Governor Ghulam Ali scheduled polls on May 28 in the province.
In its ruling, the ECP said that it met with officials from the interior and finance ministries on March 9 to discuss holding elections in light of the top court’s instructions.
“During the above-mentioned meeting, the Special Secretary Interior briefed the Commission that free, fair, and peaceful elections are not possible due to deteriorating law and order situation, charged political environment, serious threat to political leaders/politicians; which actually extends to not just the poll day but the entire run-up period of the election campaign, and this will also expose the public as well as the leaders to heightened risk of terrorism,” according to the statement.
According to the report, the secretary of finance briefed the commission that “due to a lack of funds and a financial crunch, the country is facing an unprecedented economic crisis,” and that “the country is under compulsion by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme that has set targets for maintaining fiscal discipline and deficit, and it would be difficult for Government to release funds now for General Elections to the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and later for G
“The Commission was notified by Secretary Finance that he would seek directions from the Federal Government.” “The Federal Government has informed that owing to the country’s catastrophic economic circumstances, it would be exceedingly difficult to provide money for the current elections and extra monies for the staggered elections,” said the ECP ruling.
The PTI leaders and speakers asked the Supreme Court to declare the ECP ruling null and unlawful in their appeal. They claimed that by postponing the elections, the electoral board breached the constitutional mandate and a court judgement.