“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is expect to release the general election schedule in the first week of December 2023.”
Election schedule announced in December: The election date would be published along with the schedule for the upcoming elections, according to sources within the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Sources also claimed that all four provinces and the centre would hold polls on the same day, but that the ECP alone has the power to declare the election date.
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, President Arif Alvi earlier proposed November 6, 2023 as the date for Pakistan’s general elections.
President Arif Alvi highlight that the National Assembly was dissolve on August 9, 2023, based on the Prime Minister’s recommendation. He also highlighted that the Constitution of Pakistan empowers the president to announce a date for general elections “no later than ninety days from the date of the dissolution of the assembly.” Consequently, elections must take place by the eighty-ninth day following the dissolution of the Assembly, which falls on Monday, November 6, 2023.
The months-long argument over who has the authority to announce the election date—the President or the ECP—has come to a head with the declaration.
It is important to note that the Ministry of Law also informed President Arif Alvi that, “after the revision to the Elections Act, he has no influence in the announcement of the date for the polls.
In order to get feedback on the ECP’s position that “only it had the authority to decide the election date,” the law ministry had forwarded its answer to President Arif Alvi’s letter.