According to a press release issued by the president’s secretariat, President Dr. Arif Alvi announced on Monday that general elections for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies will be held on April 9.
The elections are to take place in both the provinces after previous PTI governments dissolved their assemblies before the expiry of their five-year mandated term on the orders of party chairman Imran Khan.
The president’s unilateral announcement of the election date came after his invitation for consultations on the dates for elections was turned down by the ECP.
According to a press release issued by the President’s Secretariat’s Press Wing, the announcement of the election date was made under Section 57(1) of the Elections Act of 2017. Furthermore, President Alvi asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to “issue election programme in accordance with Section 57 (2) of the Act”.
Saying he was “under oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution” under its Article 42 (oath of president), he defended his announcement by adding that there was “no impediment in invoking the power and authority vested in him” as there was “no restraining order from any of the judicial forums.”
