ECP announced to hold general election in last week of January
PESHAWAR (APP): Dispelling all the months long speculations and misconceptions, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday announced to hold General Election in the last week of January next year, which has been widely hailed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
ANP Pabbi President, Zulfiqar Bhutto while terming the ECP announcement as a significant development said that ECP has cleared all misconceptions and uncertainties.
He said General Election would bring political and economic stability to the country, and democratic system would continue in the country.
Sahibzada Hamaza Khan, PMLN Nowshera district president said that ECP announcement was a positive development. He said the decision has squashed all speculations and uncertainty about polls in the country.
He expressed the hope that the process of delimitation of constituencies would be completed as per announcement of ECP and General Election would be held within the announced period.
He said general election was mandatory after dissolution of national and provincial assemblies in August last, and it was the responsibility of the caretaker government to assist ECP in holding of free and transparent election in all provinces and centre.
Asif Yousafzai advocate, a constitutional expert said that free and transparent election provide legitimacy to political government.
He said democracy provides an inclusive mechanism for resolution of all socioeconomic and political issues through evolving broad based political reconciliation among all the relevant stakeholders.
“The caretaker government is responsible to provide all out assistance to the electoral body for smooth conduct of polls in all federating units and Islamabad.”
He said the recent amendments in the election laws have empowered the ECP to announce date for general elections and conduct elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.
He said that four to six months were generally required for new delimitations of constituencies and election in wake of digital census.
He urged federal and provincial caretaker Governments to speed up preparations for general election after the ECP clear announcement.
Welcoming ECP announcement, former Information Minister and JUIF leader Asif Iqbal said that free and transparent election provides legitimacy to an elected government to take decisions in the country’s interest as it enjoys overwhelming support from the masses.
He said permanent political divide with no channel of communication and intolerance in society would further retard the political and economic development besides widening the economic gap between influential and underprivileged class.
He said if the trend of political intolerance, accusations and blame games among politicians continued, then it would be extremely difficult to bring political and economic stability to the country despite holding of general elections.
All political conflicts are being addressed through political reconciliation and dialogue among relevant stakeholders duly supported by masses.
Dr Ejaz Khan, former Chairman, International Relations Department while talking to APP welcomed ECP announcement about General Election in last week of January in the country.
He said that world was looking to the political development in Pakistan and urged all the political players to unite for elections.
He said political wrangling among political parties may harm democracy.
He urged all political parties to set aside their differences and unite for general elections to take the ship of democracy to safe shores.
Dr AH Hilali, former Chairman Political Science Department, University of Peshawar hailed ECP announcement and declared it a very positive development for democracy in Pakistan.
He asked all the political players to start dialogue and unite for General Elections.
“The doors of political dialogue among religious and political entities were never closed in a democratic form of government. Political dialogue was an effective tool in a democratic system, which removed misunderstanding among political players on existing issues, strengthened democracy and united people for election besides ensuring smooth transition of power.”
Prof Hilali said unfortunately our politicians did not learn lessons from our history and again started wrangling by closing the doors of political dialogue ahead of the general election despite the country’s difficult economic situation.
He said the absence of political dialogue among politicians in the past led to derailment of democracy four times in Pakistan.
He suggested political dialogue between government and opposition on existing difficult economic and political challenges inevitable for the country’s stability and development.
He said judiciary was functioning independently and media is free and any aggrieved party can approach these forms for addressal of their grievances.
The experts said that level playing fields to all political parties would help provide legitimacy to election besides taking democracy to safe shores.
