Islamabad: With the proposed election date in the largest province of the country drawing closer each day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) blamed the “reluctant” federal government for the lack of funding that it had to receive per the Supreme Court order before April 10.
The electoral watchdog submitted a sealed report at the SC’s Registrar’s Office on Tuesday, whose contents are not yet known fully.
On April 4, the apex court fixed May 14 as the polling day for the Punjab election and asked the ECP to file a report in the Court by April 11 stating whether it had received the funds or not, and if so, whether in full or in part.
The ECP’s report came a day after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar introduced the “Charged Sums for General Elections (Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)” Bill 2023 in both houses of parliament.
The bill, which has been dubbed as an attempt to delay the polls, seeks parliamentary approval for the release of Rs21 billion to conduct polls in line with the SC order.
It is also important to note that the ECP has also requested the Parliament to pass legislation empowering it to fix a date for elections suggesting amendments to Sections 57 (1) and 58 of the Elections Act, 2017.
In two separate detailed letters to National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Monday wrote that the conduct of elections is dependent upon the necessary arrangements that are to be made by the ECP to ensure that the standards of honesty, justness, fairness provided in Article 218(2) are met.
The ECP seeks the power to declare and change the election schedule at any time without outside interference under the proposed revisions.
