Pakistan Election Panel Seeking To Remove President's Role In Election Dates

Pakistan’s election panel is seeking a legislative amendment to remove the president’s role in deciding the dates for general polls.

Sikandar Sultan Raja, the head of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), sent a letter to the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, requesting the amendment to the law.

The amendment says the ECP wants to be the sole authority to announce or change election schedules without any political interference.

The letter says; “The role of the president to appoint a date for the poll in case of dissolution of the National Assembly on the advice of the prime minister, or the dissolution of the National Assembly on expiry of the term, is not supported by any constitutional provision."

The poll panel’s move was triggered by President Arif Alvi in February unilaterally announcing election dates in two provinces.

This was a decision that was slammed by the government as well as legal experts.