ECP ready to hold elections in 90 days after Punjab assembly’s dissolution

Uncurtaining is prevailing following the Punjab chief minister’s advice to the governor to dissolve the provincial assembly.

Let’s see what will happen after the dissolution of the Punjab assembly.

According to the sources, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is ready for the general elections. As per the rules of ECP, if the assembly is dissolved after the completion of its constitutional term, elections will be held in 60 days. If the assemblies are dissolved prematurely, elections will be held in 90 days.

The ECP laws state the governor is bound to accept the CM’s advice and if not the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved automatically in 48 hours.

After the dissolution, the incumbent chief minister shall write a letter to the leader of the opposition Hamza Shehbaz for choosing the caretaker set up and if they fail to agree on a set up then the matter will go to the parliamentary committee nominated by the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly.

There will be equal representation in the parliamentary committee and the parliamentary committee will also have a three-day grace period. If there is no consensus evolved in the parliamentary committee, then the Speaker will forward the case to the election commission, which will decide the caretaker government.

The caretaker government then shall be responsible to ensure free and fair elections in 90 days. This is the ideal scenario if everything goes well. The government will try its best to prolong the caretaker government on the pretext of an ongoing census. The matter will certainly go to the courts once again.

Pertinent to mention here, the KP government has not been dissolved. The PTI perhaps wants to make sure that first, the Punjab dissolution should take place then it will go for the KP assembly dissolution. The PTI probably still has some doubts. That is why it wants to wait for the next 48 when the Punjab assembly dissolution shall come into effect.