Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has demanded holding of the general elections in the country within 90 days as required by the constitution, urging that pushing the country towards a constitutional and political crisis should be avoided through unjustified delay in the election.
During a presser, PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman told the media that the PPP Central Executive Committee has reviewed the situation regarding the general elections and expressed serious reservations regarding a potential delay in that regard which is a grave constitutional setback. According to her, a PPP delegation is scheduled to visit the Election Commission on August 29 to place the party’s position before the Election Commission.
The process of transparent and credible poll is of utmost importance for a peaceful and smooth transition of government in a Democratic nation, while the fairness of electoral exercise became more crucial for a state like Pakistan that suffers from a fragile democracy and confronts simmering political and constitutional challenges ahead of countrywide vote.
The country witnesses extreme divergence of views upon different legal and political issues while overlapping laws, bisecting interests and contradictory opinions of civic groups further added to the confusion of the public. The reflexivity of the problems and self medication by the state institutions, the political groups, civil society or media commentators play no constructive role in a legal conundrum, only propels harmful propaganda and undermines democratic practices in the country, thus judicial verdict in constitutional matters must be binding for all times.
In the current scenario, a majority of the civic parties had expressed reservations over the delay in forthcoming General Election that might have pushed the electoral process beyond the 90 days limit set by the article 224 of the constitution.
Meanwhile, shocking results are expected if polls are conducted under the latest headcount and fresh delimitation of the constituencies, which continuously unnerves political pundits who invested billions and lobbied for months to reach top slots in the next political setup in the aftermath of the elections.
Interestingly, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) along with its nearly a dozen allies grasped the lucrative dividends of their joint rule in the country for almost the past 15 months, after the PDM’s successful no confidence motion ousted the PTI Chairman from premiership. Being a major ally in the coalition government, the PPP has maintained its grip over political and government affairs and brokered major political deals including the delay of polls in Punjab and KP alongwith awarding an extension to interim governments in both federating units. Unfortunately, the Federation joined the fate of KP and Punjab with respect to the delay in election that not only caused nationwide concerns, but exposed the so-called principled views and reviews of opposing political factions, who always served themselves first.
Currently, the ECP has kicked off its delimitation exercise, and the interim government is not ready to announce the polls until it receives ok from the relevant quarters including the ECP.
The situation is of great concern for political and ethnic groups who might lose their votes in the constituencies and drop their seats in the Provincial and national Assemblies as well. After handing over the ruins of the government to caretakers, the PPP went through specific changes in its political and electoral manifestos, however several of its PDM allies still perceive the delay beneficial for recovery of their lost political heirloom.
The situation is unique and has certain legal, political and constitutional aspects that warrants due care and timely remedial from the concerned quarters to avoid any unpleasant situation in the Country. Political dialogue and national consensus is the only way forward to safely sail through the prevailing conditions and that is the sole responsibility of Mr. Kakar and team.
The warring political groups must hold back their political agendas and only use available legal and political means to make their way through contentious scenarios. As soon as the interim authorities build political consensus among all stakeholders it would be better for the continuity of democracy, strengthening of political stability and grooming of socio-economic activities in the country.
