ISLAMABAD: Senator Raza Rabbani on Tuesday warned the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against a delay in general elections, which are to be held within 90 days of the National Assembly’s (NA) dissolution as per the Constitution.
In a statement issued today, Rabbani said, “Any delay in the holding of general elections, within the constitutional period will have serious consequences for the Federation.” He added, “Such consequences shall rest on the shoulders of [the] Election Commission, should it not act immediately to fulfil its constitutional mandate.”
His statement comes almost a week after the National Assembly’s premature dissolution — three days ahead of the completion of its tenure — after the PML-N-led government decided to do so with the consensus of its coalition partners.
In his statement, Rabbani noted, “It is now six days since the National Assembly [was] dissolved — the clock is ticking on the constitutional requirement under Article 224 [of the] Constitution, 1973, of holding elections within 90 days.”
The former Senate chairman expressed surprise as to why the ECP had not issued any “comprehensive statement with reference to or dealing with the holding of general elections”.
The PPP senator demanded that the ECP “should immediately, categorically, state the time required by it, for the delimitation of constituencies after the digital census”.
“The Election Commission should not take this as a routine matter nor should it keep the precedence of Punjab and KP assemblies before it,” he added, referring to the delay in holding provincial polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. –Agencies
