The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday refused to postpone the general elections scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024 in the light of the resolution passed by Senate on January 5, 2024, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In a letter to the Senate Secretariat, the election commission officials said that they had read contents of the resolution passed by the senators. “Truth of the matter is that February 8 had been set as the election date after consultations with President Arif Alvi,” read the letter.
The officials told the Senate that they had given instructions to the caretaker provincial governments to keep the law and order situation under control in run-up to the polls.
The Senate was reminded that the Supreme Court (SC), too, had made it clear that there could be no change in the election schedule. “It is worth-mentioning here that elections for the National Assembly and provincial assemblies’ seats as well as for local bodies had been held in the past in cold weather; therefore, putting off elections at this stage was not a good idea.”
“In short, the elections cannot be postponed at this juncture,” the election commission said categorically.
The Senate, had on January 5, passed the resolution submitted by Senator Dilawar Khan with a majority.
However, at that time only 14 senators were present in the House.
A few days later, another resolution was submitted in the upper House by Senator Hilalur Rehman, calling for the postponement of elections.
Reporter: Usman Khan