ISLAMABAD – President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday suggested November 6th as the date for general elections in Pakistan as he wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
In the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the president said he had dissolved the National Assembly on the prime minister’s advice on August 9.
President said elections must be held on the 89th day of the dissolution of the assembly, on November 6, saying he had invited Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja for a consultation on the elections to fulfil the constitutional obligations, however, CEC Mr Raja adopted a contrary stance.
Alvi was of view that conducting elections is the responsibility of election commission, he added that delimitation exercise is underway after the publishing of the census results in August, and mentioned Article 51(5) and Section 17 of the Elections Act.
Furthermore, President’s letter stated that four provincial governments believe that the announcement of the election date was the mandate of the electoral body, and there’s a consensus on holding the general election to the National and all four provincial assemblies on the same day.
He furthe reminded that president holds power to fix a date for general elections within 90 days from the date of dissolution of the National Assembly under Article 48(5) of Constitution.
This is a developing story, and will be updated later…
