ISLAMABAD: After the Senate passed a resolution seeking a postponement in general elections with less than a month until the much-anticipated polls, political parties rejected the non-binding resolution on Friday, claiming that further postponing the election would be “unconstitutional.”
The motion, submitted earlier in the day by independent legislator Senator Dilawar Khan, was accepted by the majority of lawmakers present in the assembly. It sought a postponement in elections due to harsh weather in hilly areas and a deteriorating security situation.
Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), speaking at a press conference after the resolution was accepted in the upper chamber of parliament, stated that the party has a firm belief that the elections should not be postponed.
“We absolutely do not support the delay in elections,” she added, adding that the PPP was opposed to the Senate motion.
Meanwhile, PPP enator Shahadat Awan, who was absent from the session, stated that his party supports holding elections under all circumstances.
“This is an act of defiance against the Constitution.” “It was a [planned] move and a conspiracy because the polls had to be held on time,” he explained.
“Those who can see their defeat [in elections] want to delay the polls,” he went on to say.
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The Constitution was “violated” in the Senate, according to Sher Afzal Marwat, core leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which also refrained from voting on the resolution today.
“The resolution to postpone general elections is an attack on the Constitution,” he stated, adding that there is no provision in the Constitution for postponing elections.
Marwat further stated that Article 6 applies to all those who supported the resolution. In the Senate, no one can vote on an anti-constitutional measure, he stressed.
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq condemned the Senate resolution’s passage, calling it a conspiracy against the country and democracy.
“Who will bring democracy back on track if it is derailed,” he questioned, emphasizing that postponing elections due to turmoil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan would be equal to surrendering to those driving the upheaval.
According to Haq, only timely elections can ensure the country’s peace and stability. He stated that his party wants free and fair elections on February 8 across the country.
Senator Dilawar’s proposal was approved in the presence of 14 senators, who were the only parliamentarians present in the upper chamber of 100.
Senators Gurdeep Singh of the PTI and Behramand Tangi of the PPP both voted no. The Senate chairman adjourned the session indefinitely following the vote.
When an assembly is dissolved, elections are scheduled to take place in 90 days, but polls in all five legislative chambers have yet to be held, and they have now exceeded their constitutional maximum.
Elections for the KP and Punjab assemblies, which were dissolved in January last year, have not been held in almost a year, and the national, Balochistan, and Sindh assemblies have also been stretched to their limits.
With delays looming, a case was filed in the Supreme Court, which required the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and President Arif Alvi to set a date, which they did: February 8.
Some political figures, however, have expressed concern about the security scenario as well as the meteorological circumstances. They claim they don’t want a delay, but they do want their problems resolved.
