CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja decides not to meet President Arif Alvi for fixing elections date

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has decided not to meet President Arif Alvi for fixing the date for the general elections.

In a letter to President Arif Alvi, he said that the section 57 of the Election Act had been amended and the Article 48(5) should be read with Article 58(2).

He stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has the right to give the date for the elections if the National Assembly is dissolved on the recommendation of the prime minister.

The CEC said, in the letter, that the power to fix the election date rested with the President if the assembly was dissolved under the Article 58-2(b).

He said that the delimitation of the constituencies is mandatory legally after the census.

On Wednesday, President Arif Alvi had written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja for fixing the date for the general elections.

The letter stated that President Arif Alvi, on the advice of the prime minister, had dissolved the National Assembly on August 9. "Under the Article 48(5), the President is bound to fix the date for the general elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly," the letter stated.

Through the letter, President Arif Alvi hasd invited the CEC to meet him to fix the date for the general elections.