Pakistan’s top election body has delayed assembly polls in the politically crucial Punjab province by more than five months, citing deteriorating security situation in the cash-starved country, a move criticised by former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party chairman Imran Khan.
The ECP said that it “hereby withdraws the election programme and fresh schedule will be issued in due course of time with poll date on October 8.”
The assemblies in Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces were dissolved on January 14 and 18 respectively by the erstwhile governments of Khan’s party.
The ECP said the decision was taken after briefing of the government and different departments and intelligence agencies informed that “the law and order situation in the country don’t permit to hold elections at any province at this point of time.”
According to the ECP, it contacted the interior and finance ministries for a meeting on March 9, where the special secretary of interior had said that “free, fair and peaceful elections are not possible due to deteriorating law and order situation, charged political environment and serious threats to political leaders.”
The finance secretary had cited a paucity of funds and the ongoing financial crunch as a reason for a lack of funds for the elections.
The ECP said that several senior-level members of the security agencies, including the police and the defence minister, and the federal government had recommended delaying the elections.
Khan condemned the ECP’s move to postpone the elections till October, calling it a violation of Pakistan’s constitution.
“Today everyone must stand behind the legal community – the judiciary & lawyers – with expectation that they will protect Constitution. For if this is accepted today then it is the end of Rule of Law in Pakistan,” he said in a tweet early Thursday.
“We dissolved our 2 provincial legislatures with expectation that elections would be held in 90 days as clearly given in our Constitution. We did not take this action to allow a bunch of fascists to impose a reign of terror, violating the Constitution & Rule of Law,” he said in another tweet.
On March 1, the Supreme Court ruled that elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies, as stipulated by the Constitution.
Since his ouster, Khan has been asking for early elections to oust what he termed an “imported government” led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once the parliament completes its five-year tenure.
