PTI moves SC for election date in KP

ISLAMABAD, April 06 (INP): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday filed plea in the Supreme Court (SC) for election date in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). PTI moved the apex court for directing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali to announce polls for the province.

The plea has been moved by KP Assembly speaker, Mushtaq Ghani former CM Mahmood Khan and others. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and KP Governor Ghulam Ali have been made respondents.

“KP governor earlier announced elections in KP will be held on May 28 and later retracted from his statement,” the plea said and added polls are mandatory within 90 days after the dissolution of assembly as per the constitution of Pakistan. Governor Ghulam Ali is violating SC orders of March 1. The application pleaded with the SC to direct the KP governor to announce the election date in the province near to 90 days deadline.The plea also stated to direct ECP to immediately release polls schedule after the announcement of the date by the governor.

It is worth mentioned here that On March 24, Governor Ali urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the general elections in the province on October 8, the same date the electoral watchdog had announced for Punjab, keeping in mind a rise in terror activities. The PTI had already opposed the delay of Punjab polls and after several hearing the country’s top court, on Tuesday, in its unanimous verdict declared the ECP’s decision on the Punjab and KP election null and void, ordering the electoral authority to hold snap polls issuing May 14 as the date for Punjab.
The petition, filed today, reiterated that it is important to hold elections within 90 days once the assembly is dissolved and the governor was stepping back from his decision as he had already announced to hold election on May 28.

“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 read, adding that it was beyond the “scope and ambit of the Constitution to allow an unrepresented government to continue to govern the population of Pakistan, including that of a province.”