Pakistan Election Commission says it hasn't issued any statement on early polls

Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan stunned the Opposition on Sunday (April 3) by recommending snap elections within three months, minutes after a no-confidence motion against him was dismissed by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

Pic courtesy: ANI

Islamabad (Pakistan): Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan had stunned the Opposition last week by recommending snap elections within three months, minutes after a no-confidence motion against him was dismissed by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly. Khan then got Pakistan President Arif Alvi to dissolve the 342-member National Assembly. Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday (April 4) adjourned the hearing on the deputy speaker's decision to reject the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan, who had lost the majority in the lower house of Parliament.

According to the Dawn newspaper as mentioned by news agency PTI, a senior official of the Pakistan Election Commission had said due to fresh delimitation of constituencies, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the number of seats was increased under the 26th Amendment, and bringing district-and constituency-wise electoral rolls in conformity were the major challenges, the preparations for the general elections would require some six months. "Delimitation is a time-consuming exercise where the law provides for one month's time just to invite objections," the report said quoting the official. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan in a tweet clarified that it has not issued any statement regarding the election.

الیکشن کمیشن آف پاکستان

اسلام آباد 5 اپریل 2022
ضروری وضاحت

ضروری وضاحت کی جاتی ہے کہ الیکشن کمیشن آف پاکستان نے الیکشن سے متعلق کوئی بیان جاری نہیں کیا ھے۔۔۔

ترجمان الیکشن کمیشن. #ECP #ElectionCommissionofPakistan — Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL) (@ECP_Pakistan) April 5, 2022

The official said inviting bids and scrutinizing financial and technical quotations would require some time, as per PTI report. About the election material, he said some two million stamp pads would be required for around 100,000 polling stations. Referring to the legal hurdles, the official said that under Section 14 of the Elections Act, the Election Commission was poised to announce an election plan four months prior to the polls.

Meanwhile, expressing grave concern over the recent political developments and ensuing constitutional crisis, the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), an independent non-government body, has identified multiple constitutional, legal, and operational challenges to the conduct of an early election, reported PTI. 

"While the constitutionality of the measures leading to the dissolution of the National Assembly will be decided by the Supreme Court, Fafen hopes for a prompt decision by the apex court, which rightly took up the matter suo moto, as any delay will continue to accrue collateral issues arising out of the constitutional deadlock. Public confusion and political divisions that have already arisen as a result can potentially translate into violent expression. Political parties have a great responsibility to manage their workers and make sure that political disagreements do not turn into violence, especially ahead of an early election," Fafen said in a statement issued on Monday, reported PTI.

(Disclaimer: As per an independent factchecker, the information, reportedly provided by the Dawn and picked by news agency PTI, was found to be inaccurate and has been corrected in this article.)