ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) seeking contempt proceedings against senators involved in passing a resolution in the upper house of Parliament demanding a further delay in the February 8 general elections.
The general elections, mandated to take place within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly, have not been conducted in all five legislative assemblies, surpassing their constitutional limits.
The polls for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies, dissolved in January last year, remain pending for almost a year. Similarly, the national, Balochistan, and Sindh assemblies have also exceeded their mandated limits.
Fearing potential delays, a prior petition was presented to the Supreme Court, following which the top court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consult with President Arif Alvi and fix a date for elections. Subsequently, February 8 was declared election day after consultation.
Despite the SC’s ruling that no objections could be raised on delimitations after the announcement of the election schedule, effectively closing avenues for a delay, the Senate approved a resolution on Friday seeking a postponement of the general elections scheduled for February 8 citing security concerns. The move drew sharp criticism from major political parties.
On Friday, the Senate passed a resolution shortly after it was tabled by the independent Senator Dilawar Khan. Only 14 out of 100 senators were present in the House at the time of the resolution.
In response, Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza filed a petition today in the SC against Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, Senator Dilawar, and other lawmakers, including representatives from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
In the plea, Mirza urged the court to ensure that elections take place on February 8, emphasizing that a specific number of days are required for various acts mandated by law before holding the elections. He argued that allowing the contested resolution to stand would hinder the holding of elections on the designated date.
Moreover, the Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan has also introduced a resolution in the Senate, calling for holding polls at their scheduled time, expected to be voted on in the next session.
