Pakistan's top court orders elections in 2 key provinces by April

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan's top court on Wednesday ordered the holding of fresh elections in the two key provinces within a constitutional timeframe of 90 days.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, announced the judgment on a suo moto notice with a 3-2 majority, directing the Election Commission of Pakistan to immediately announce the date for the fresh elections in northeastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to the court’s record.

The two judges, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, dissented from the ruling, opining that there was no need for the suo moto taken by the chief justice last week as the matter was also pending in the two high courts.

The assemblies of the two provinces were dissolved by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Jan. 14 in an attempt to compel the coalition government for snap elections, which are scheduled in October this year.

The country's Constitution requires that new elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of any of the country's legislative assemblies, both central and provincial. The government, however, insists on holding national and provincial elections simultaneously.

The top court's judgment means the new elections in the two provinces should be held by April 14, considering the 90-day period after the dissolution of an assembly.

The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the early general elections demand time and again.

Political turmoil unlikely to settle

The PTI welcomed the judgment, calling it a "victory of the Constitution."

Talking to newsmen after the judgment, PTI's Vice President Fawad Chaudhry called upon the party workers to start preparations for the elections.

According to the Constitution, the government may file a review petition against the judgment, which will be heard by the same judges.

Earlier, the chief justice had formed a nine-member larger bench to hear his suo moto notice, however, four of the judges recused themselves from the bench.

Later, Justice Bandial reconstituted a five-member bench led by himself to proceed with the hearing.

This will be for the first time in Pakistan's 75-year political history that the provincial and central elections will be held separately, which according to some constitutional experts, will further complicate the country's already tense political atmosphere.

The Constitution requires caretaker governments in the center and all four provinces before general elections. Nonetheless, if elections in Punjab – the country's bellwether province – and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces are held in line with the apex court's judgment, there will be caretaker governments in the center and the two provinces, and political governments in another two provinces when general elections are held in October.