President Alvi calls for upholding ‘spirit of Constitution’ on general elections

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday called for following the “spirit of the Constitution” with regard to the decisions taken on general elections in the country, his office said in a statement.

The president made the appeal in a meeting with Caretaker Law and Justice Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The meeting “discussed many issues” concerning the general elections.

“The President appreciated the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar’s yesterday’s statement that the caretaker government would abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on this issue,” the communique added.

It further said that President Alvi urged for the need to uphold the “supremacy of the Constitution” and called for decisions to be taken in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.

The meeting came days after it was reported that President Alvi held consultations with legal experts about the reply received from the Ministry of Law and Justice pertaining to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Syed Sikandar Sultan Raja’s response to him regarding the election date.

Last week, the Ministry of Law and Justice had informed the president that it was of the view that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is the “competent authority to announce or appoint date” for holding and conducting general elections to the national and the provincial assemblies.

The ministry, through its secretary, responded to the president’s letter seeking the ministry’s input on ECP’s response that there was no need for the election watchdog to consult the president on appointing the election date.

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Before that President Alvi had written to the ministry to seek “advice” on the ECP’s letter contending that the head of the state is no longer empowered to fix the polls’ date.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, the President House said that Alvi had written the letter to the ministry’s secretary on the ECP’s response with regard to the letter he had sent for a meeting to decide the election date.

The ECP responded to the president’s letter — in which he had invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja — stating he was no longer empowered to fix the date for polls after amendments in election laws.

The development came in a meeting chaired by CEC Raja to ponder over the matter and concluded that the meeting would be of “scant consequence”.

Dr Alvi, in the letter to the CEC, said since the National Assembly was dissolved on August 9, 2023, under Article 48 (5) of the Constitution, he (as the president) was obliged to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution for the holding of general election of National Assembly.