Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on Saturday lamented President Arif Alvi\u2019s announcement on holding elections in Punjab on April 30, saying he wished a \u201cunanimous\u201d decision was reached regarding the elections in both KP and Punjab.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Aaj News earlier today, he said: \u201cIt would have been good if all three of us (President Alvi, Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja and myself) would have sat together and made a decision after hearing each other\u2019s opinions and the steps taken by the election commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut maybe, he considered it appropriate to give a date by himself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
A day ago, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) wrote a letter to President Alvi suggesting possible poll dates \u2014 between April 30 and May 7 \u2014 for Punjab, he announced that elections in Punjab will be held on April 30.<\/p>\n
The ECP\u2019s press release had further said it had written a letter to the KP governor, stating that the electoral body was waiting for his response regarding the date for polls in the province.<\/p>\n
The announcement came days after the Supreme Court ruled that the elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies should be held within the stipulated period of 90 days. It, however, allowed the ECP to propose a poll date that deviates from the 90-day deadline by the \u201cbarest minimum\u201d, in case of any practical difficulty.<\/p>\n
In his interview today, Governor Ali said, \u201cIf we make decisions in this manner, it will create difficulties and as far as his giving a date is concerned, I think there is a stark difference between the situation of Punjab and KP.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately, he told Dawn.com that as the letter from ECP had arrived yesterday night and was addressed to his secretary \u2014 who was on holiday \u2014 it would be opened when the secretary returns to the office on Monday.<\/p>\n
Regarding the announcement of the date for the KP election, he said, \u201cIn the context of the Supreme Court\u2019s verdict, whatever date is available, will hold elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking the arrangements is the ECP\u2019s job [while] I will give the proposed date,\u201d the governor added.<\/p>\n
While he voiced his intent to announce the date, he bemoaned the lack of consensus among the concerned stakeholders: \u201cIt was my wish that the president, chief election commissioner and I give a unanimous date.<\/p>\n
Governor Ali also said a \u201cpositive message\u201d would have been sent if the president had called for a unanimous date for both provinces before announcing the date for the Punjab elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cI even contacted President Arif Alvi yesterday for a unanimous date. [However], he announced the election date for Punjab by himself,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on Saturday lamented President Arif Alvi\u2019s announcement on holding elections in Punjab on April 30, saying he wished a \u201cunanimous\u201d decision was reached regarding the elections in both KP and Punjab. Speaking to Aaj News earlier today, he said: \u201cIt would have been good if all three of us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n