The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s petition regarding the election dates for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is due to be heard again by the Supreme Court shortly.
The party had challenged the decision made by the Election Commission of Pakistan to postpone the Punjab polls until October 8th due to concerns from financial and security authorities. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali had also requested that the general elections be held on the same date as the Punjab polls due to growing security threats.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission and requested guarantees from the government and PTI for free and fair elections. The court deemed the timely holding of general elections to be crucial for democracy and had questioned the legality of the Election Commission’s order to postpone the election.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled that elections for the Punjab and KP assemblies must be held within 90 days. In yesterday’s hearing, the court sent notices to all parties and governors of both provinces to respond to the legal points raised by the petitioner. The Election Commission was also asked to be prepared to assist with legal and factual questions in today’s hearing.
