President Dr Arif Alvi Monday held another meeting with caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam for consultation on the upcoming general elections amid rife speculation of an imminent announcement for the poll date, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The meeting was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad in continuation of the ongoing consultation process on elections between the president and the interim government, a week after their first meeting on the subject.

“The continuation of the consultation process with good intent will be positive for democracy in the country,” the president was quoted as saying in a statement posted on Twitter.

Alvi had emphasised the need to hold elections within 90 days of the National Assembly’s dissolution in last week’s meeting with Aslam.

https://twitter.com/PresOfPakistan/status/1701185322833572026

He had also stressed the need to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution, adding that decisions should be taken in accordance with the spirit of the supreme law.

According to Article 224 of the Constitution, elections must be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly. This makes the general election due in November.

But since the delimitation exercise is unlikely to be completed before Nov 30, elections may be pushed back to late Jan­uary or early February.

The president, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), political parties and other stakeholders take differing stances on the time frame for holding general elections and who has the authority to decide the final poll date.

The ECP has ruled out elections this year, while the 90-day limit for holding polls ends on Nov 9.