President Arif Alvi has announced April 30 as the date for the general polls in Punjab, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) proposed dates for the election in the province as directed by the Supreme Court (SC).
“President Dr Arif Alvi has announced to hold general elections of Punjab Assembly on April 30, Sunday,” tweeted the President’s office on Friday.
Dr Alvi’s office said that the decision was made by president after “considering the dates proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan”.
He announced the date after considering dates proposed by Election Commission of Pakistan. ECP had proposed poll date between 30 April to 7 May 2023 for holding general elections of Provincial Assembly of Punjab, and had further suggested to hold elections preferably on Sunday.
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) March 3, 2023
Earlier today the ECP, in its letter to President Alvi, had recommended that the polls for the provincial assembly in Punjab can be held between April 30 — May 07.
The Election Commission met today — the third consecutive meeting — with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair.
“The commission is ready to fulfil its Constitutional and legal obligations after the selection of a date by the president,” it stated.
However, in its letter to Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ghulam Ali, the letter said the commission is waiting for his response in light of the SC order.
The Punjab and KP assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and January 18 respectively, and under the law, the elections were to be held within 90 days after their dissolution.
However, after the governors’ refusal to fix a date for polls, the issue landed in the Supreme Court which directed the president to announce the election date in consultation with the commission.
It also ordered the KP governor to give an election date.
