When we think that the election saga is about to reach its climax, the story sees another twist. This time the main protagonist or antagonist, whatever you want to call him, is the president. The spotlight has fallen on President Dr Arif Alvi after he announced the dates of elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With this latest development, the storyline has apparently changed. Whether there will be a climax this time, the coming days will reveal. But, one thing is for sure, Imran Khan will not rest till there are general elections. From the day the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Pakistan (PTI) government was ousted through a no-confidence move, the former prime minister remains adamant that general elections be held at the earliest. He has tried every possible method to bring the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government to agree on this.
As soon as the PTI lost its government, the first step Imran Khan took was to make all PTI MNAs tender their resignations from the National Assembly. Their acceptance by the National Assembly speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and how the process lingered on is a totally different story. Then the PTI announced the Azadi march in May 2022, which aimed to pressure the coalition government to call elections. But that too failed and instead the party ended up facing cases in court.
Another Haqeeqi march was announced and held in November, but the coalition government did not budge. One silver lining however was the PTI managing to regain Punjab which it had lost to Hamza Shehbaz. The local government elections in the federal government were set to be held in December and the ECP seemed to have made all arrangements too, but at the very last moment, the polls were postponed on the pretext that the number of union councils in Islamabad need to be increased.
The matter landed in the Islamabad High Court which announced that the polls should be held the very next day, but the government refused, saying it could not make arrangements in such a short time. That chapter also ended up in the back burner. With the coalition in the Centre least interested in holding general elections, the frustrated, Imran Khan, played another card. This time he announced that the assemblies in the provinces where it held power would be dissolved, hoping that with over 60 per cent of the population heading to vote, the rest would follow suit.
But, as time passed, Imran realised that this too was not happening any time soon. On top of this, the ECP reaffirmed that the president would not be consulted on dates for elections to the two provincial assemblies. Ultimately, the ball fell in the court of President Dr Arif Alvi and he played his own card, setting April 9 as the date for elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
The move was condemned by the government, terming it “unconstitutional and illegal”.
The ECP has now decided to consult the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) and legal experts on the matter. The Commission said that it will continue to take decisions as per the Constitution and without any pressure. On the other hand, President Alvi, in a letter written to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Raja, said that he took the decision under Section 57(1) of the Elections Act, asking it to issue the election schedule in accordance with Section 57(2) of the Act. He further said that he was under oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution under Article 42 read with the third schedule of the Constitution. While referring to his two letters to the ECP, the president said he had initiated a “serious consultation process” with the ECP, but the election watchdog refused to participate in a meeting on the subject.
The situation is getting trickier and the confrontation between the coalition in the Centre and the opposition PTI tense. The coming days are crucial in every respect. The International Monetary Fund’s March 1 deadline to enforce tax reforms is fast approaching on which the release of the $1.2 billion tranche rests. Elections have become imperative in the wake of the current scenario. We need a government that is stable, and which has a plan to steer the country out of the crises. This political tussle needs to end; political maturity is what is required.
Let’s head for the polls.
