Election 2023:
When will the elections be held in Pakistan after the dissolution of assemblies?
All eyes are on the upcoming election in Pakistan, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about it. People are trying to know whether the National Assembly will be able to complete its term or not and when the elections will be held. To answer all these questions, BBC Urdu spoke to Mudassar Rizvi, a constitutional expert and spokesperson of Free and Fair Election Network (FAFN), a non-governmental organization monitoring elections in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently said in his speech in Sialkot that 'Today is our government which will complete its term next month and before the term is completed we will leave and a new caretaker government will come.'
Even after this announcement, the ambiguities have not ended, but more questions have arisen, such as whether it will make a difference if the assembly is dissolved before or after, the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were dissolved a long time ago, but in these two provinces only now. Elections could not be held till now and the supervisory setup is in place. If the elections cannot be held on time even in the federal government, what does the constitution guide in this context?
To answer all these questions,
It should be noted that the current assembly was inaugurated on 13 August 2018, so its five-year term will end on 12 August 2023 at 12 midnight.
Elections will be held after 60 or 90 days?
Mudassar Rizvi told the BBC that there are two situations, if the assemblies are completing the period specified by the constitution, then elections should be held within 60 days after that day, and if the assembly is dissolved prematurely. So there will be elections within 90 days.'
He further said that 'for example, if the term of the assembly is ending on July 1 and it is dissolved on June 29, then the election will have to be held within 90 days.'
When we asked Mudassar Rizvi what is the purpose of allocating different periods, he said that the Election Commission knows about the date of dissolution of the assemblies in advance and they have prepared for it, but if At once, the decision comes that the assemblies are being dissolved, in such a situation, the Election Commission is not ready for the elections, so they need more time.
He said that it was discussed in the old election committees that 60 days and 90 days may not be enough to prepare for the elections. A suggestion was also made that a period of 120 days should be kept, but it was not agreed upon. could.'
Mudassar Rizvi says that perhaps it should be reconsidered how much time is needed to conduct elections because as big as our country is, there is not one election here. Therefore, around one million staff are required.'
Who will announce the election?
Mudassar Rizvi said that Election Commission will announce the date of elections after the recent amendments in the Election Law.Earlier, the President of Pakistan used to announce the date of the election and the Election Commission used to announce the election schedule according to that date.
What will happen if the election is not held on time?
There is also a fear among people that if the Election Commission fails to conduct the election in 60 or 90 days, then what will happen in such a case?Mudassar Rizvi says that in case of an extraordinary situation, it is understandable that the constitution has clearly stated that elections should be held within 60 or 90 days. But the framers of the constitution have left a scope. Under Article 254, the time specified in the Constitution, if no work is done according to it and is done later, it will not be illegal.
He said that 'for example, if the election is not held in 90 days and instead, for some reason, the elections are held in 120 days, then this election will not be illegal.'
According to Mudassar Rizvi, the election commission members should be appointed within a month, but if it happened after one year, then what has happened is not declared illegal.
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