ISLAMABAD: The legal fraternity in Pakistan on Saturday observed a nationwide strike to urge the election regulator to hold national polls within the constitutionally stipulated 90-day period after the dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies, saying only an elected government could steer the country out of its multiple crises.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif advised the president to dissolve the national legislature on August 9, days before the completion of its five-year term. Pakistan’s constitution makes general elections mandatory within 90 days if the assembly is dissolved before arriving at the end of its term.
In the present scenario, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to hold national polls in November, though it is yet to announce the schedule and the electoral contest is now expected to be held in February after the delimitation of the national and provincial constituencies.
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the highest elected body of lawyers established under a parliamentary act, believes it will be a constitutional violation if the elections go beyond the 90-day period. The PBC urged the legal community to observe the strike to record their protest against any election delay.
“We have received a positive response to our nationwide strike call as lawyers have not appeared in the courts today as a protest,” Haroon-ur-Rashid, the council’s vice chairman, told Arab News.
“President Dr. Arif Alvi should immediately announce the national elections date to end this constitutional crisis,” he continued, arguing that the president had the power under the constitution to do that.
Last month, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja refused to meet the president through a letter for mutual consultations to fix the election date, saying the ECP had been empowered by the previous administration to fix the election date without consultation.
“We have strongly condemned the election commission’s decision to delay national polls beyond the constitutional limit of 90 days due to the delimitation of the constituencies,” Rashid said. “The redrawing of constituencies is nothing but a tactic to delay the elections.”
He maintained it was imperative to give people a chance to elect their representatives through free and fair voting process since “only an elected government could steer Pakistan out of crises.”
"The dream of economic stability, progress and bringing in foreign investments cannot materialize without political stability in the country,” he maintained, adding the free and transparent elections were the only solution to achieve political and economic stability in the country.
“We will be convening our meeting next Monday or Tuesday to deliberate upon a future course of action if the election commission keeps dragging its feet over the election schedule,” he said.
The top body of lawyers also moved the Supreme Court, requesting it to direct the election commission to announce a date for holding the polls within 90 days. It has sought the suspension of the approval of the 2023 digital census by the last government on August 5, which then paved the way for delayed polls.
Arab News spoke to lawyers in different cities, including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Chakwal, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta, about the strike which made them confirm that the protest was continuing in response to the call given by the PBC.
The election commission did not respond to requests seeking comment over the election schedule for the next polls.
Another faction of the lawyers, led by the Supreme Court Bar Association, announced a countrywide strike on September 14 earlier this week during a convention to “defend and uphold the constitution, rule of law and human rights.”
The association is also seeking national elections within 90 days following the dissolution of the assemblies.
