Pakistan President Alvi proposes 6 November as election date

Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and proposed 6 November as the date for the country's next general elections, reports Dawn.

In the letter, Alvi said he had dissolved Pakistan's national assembly on the prime minister's advice on 9 August.

He cited Article 48(5) of Pakistan's constitution, which he said "empowers and mandates the president 'to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of the dissolution, for the holding of a general election to the Assembly'".

"In terms of Article 48(5), the general election to the National Assembly should be held by the 89th day of the date of dissolution of the National Assembly, i.e. Monday, 6 November 2023," reads the letter.

The Pak president recalled in the letter that "in an endeavour to fulfil the constitutional obligations, the chief election commissioner was invited for a meeting to devise the modalities of implementing the constitutional intent and mandate".

However, in his reply, the chief election commissioner said as per the scheme of Pakistan's constitution and framework of its electoral laws, it was the domain of the election commission to decide the date of the general election.

Pakistan's law ministry also expressed the same perspective on the issue, mentioning that all four provincial governments concurred that the responsibility for announcing the election date rested with the Election Commission of Pakistan.