Usman Danish
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, on Monday, approached the Supreme Court seeking contempt of court proceedings against Governor Ghulam Ali and the Election Commission for not announcing the date for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s elections.
In the petition filed by the PTI leaders, it is stated that the Supreme Court has ordered to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 90, but the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has not given the date of the election yet, and thus the governor is guilty of contempt of court.
In the petition, the Supreme Court has been requested to ensure the holding of elections in the province by giving an early election date.
Asad Qaisar, the former Speaker of the National Assembly, said that they have demanded early elections in the petition, and also contempt of court proceedings against Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ghulam Ali who is unwilling to hold elections despite the clear orders of the Supreme Court.
Former provincial finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that 62 days have passed since the dissolution of the assembly and the date of the election has not been given in the province, the governor is running away from fixing the date of the election.
He said elections are being delayed on the pretext of the census, economic situation, and security.
PTI’s lawyer Barrister Gohar Khan said, ”Today we have filed a petition in the Supreme Court for holding early elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in which the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Election Commission have been made parties.”
Barrister Khan said that the constitution envisages that when the assembly is dissolved, elections must be held within 90 days and the SC, in its verdict, has given the same order, however, the Provincial Assembly elections are being delayed unnecessarily which is a violation of the Constitution of Pakistan.
On the question that the governor had announced the election on May 28, Barrister Khan said that May 28 is far away, “We want early elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa too, if the date of the election is given in the first week of May, it will be appropriate, and we have requested the same from the court.”
He said that they have also requested that if the governor does not announce the date, then the court should ask the president to give the date of the election.
Babar Khan Yousafzai Advocate said that 62 days have passed since the dissolution of the assembly, yet the election schedule has not been issued, it is not possible to hold elections in this time frame of 90 days, it also takes time, the governor has given the date, so now it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to issue the schedule and ensure the conduct of the elections.
Responding to the question of whether contempt of court proceedings can be initiated against the governor, Yousafzai said the governor enjoys the same protection the Constitution has given to the President of Pakistan, and the governor has held a meeting with the Election Commission, has given the date of May 28 and it has also been reported by news channels and newspapers.
He said when a person in a constitutional position speaks, it carries weight, the date was not given in the first meeting with ECP officials, but when he went to the Election Commission office for a consultation, he gave the date by fulfilling the legal requirements, “I think it is now the job of the Election Commission to make elections possible.”
