In an effort to hold elections across the country on the same date, the Ministry of Defence, responsible for deploying armed forces for elections, has approached the Supreme Court for holding elections for the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies on the same date – means October 8.
The federal government has been advocating for this position, opposing separate general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The federal government wants the elections to take place upon the completion of the term of the National Assembly and the legislatures of two other provinces, Sindh and Balochistan, which will end later this year.
This is contrary to the Supreme Court’s April 4 directive that ordered polls in Punjab to be held on May 14, after ruling the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone polls to the Punjab Assembly till October 8 as unconstitutional.
In response to the government’s refusal to comply with the court’s orders, the apex court directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release a total of Rs21 billion to the election commission for holding polls.
However, as of April 17, the funds have not been released, and the ECP has reported that conducting the election on May 14 is getting impossible due to the non-provision of funds and security forces for maintaining law and order.
