Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Moves SC to Hold KP Elections Within 90-day Constitutional Deadline
On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) closest to the 90-day period after the dissolution of the assembly, as per the Constitution. The PTI petition requests the apex court to set aside KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali's notification to postpone elections by five months and to direct the ECP to conduct the polls "not later than 90 days subject to the barest minimum to that timeframe".
The Supreme Court, on March 1, had ordered the elections in KP and Punjab to be held within 90 days or a date that deviates to the barest minimum from the constitutional deadline. The KP Governor suggested May 28 as the election date on March 14. However, after the ECP's decision to delay the Punjab polls till October 8, the governor proposed October 8 for KP as well on March 22.
In addition to seeking the court's direction to the ECP, the PTI has asked the Supreme Court to declare the KP Governor's letter and the ECP's notification dated March 27 as contrary to the court's March 1 directions. The petitioners include PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, KP Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, former KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, and provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jagra, Kamran Khan Bangash, Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, and Muhammad Atif, while the respondents include the ECP and Governor Ali.
The PTI argued in its plea that the ECP has no jurisdiction or power to amend the Constitution and hold the elections beyond the constitutional period of 90 days. The petition argues that the electoral body also has no power or jurisdiction to overrule or review the Supreme Court's verdict. Furthermore, the PTI stated that under the Constitution, there is no provision in which an unelected and selected caretaker government can continue to operate for more than a period of 90 days.
The petition has also cited the Supreme Court's latest order of April 4, on a PTI petition against the Punjab poll delay, to argue that such reasons to delay elections were not accepted by the apex court as justifiable or valid. The PTI also termed the reasons given by the KP Governor and ECP as legally flawed and a disingenuous excuse, adding that such excuses would be used whenever elections are to be held if once accepted. It also requested the court to permit additional grounds for the case since the petition is being filed in urgency.
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