After months of delays, governor announces May 28 for polls in Pakistani northwest province

ISLAMABAD: Governor Hajji Ghulam Ali has announced May 28 as the date for elections in the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), local media reported on Tuesday, following his meetings with the election officials and Pakistan President Arif Alvi.

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party dissolved the KP Assembly on January 18, days after the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, in a bid to force early nationwide elections. The two regions account for more than half of the country’s 220 million population.

Under the Pakistani law, fresh polls for the two provincial assemblies should be held within 90 days. Khan’s PTI has been gambling on the national government being unable to afford to hold the provincial elections separately from a national election, which is otherwise due by October.

Governor Ali’s announcement of the KP election date came more than a week after the Supreme Court ordered the government to conduct polls in the two provinces within 90-day period.

“My work is to give the date for the elections in the province but conducting the polls falls under the electoral watchdog’s domain,” the KP governor was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, after his meeting with Pakistan’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Elections in Punjab have already been scheduled for April 30.

The provincial governor also met President Alvi in Islamabad on Tuesday and discussed with him matters relating to the KP elections.

“The president advised Ali to implement the apex court’s order in letter and spirit wherein it had been directed that the KP governor, after consultation with the Election Commission of Pakistan, forthwith appoint a date for the holding of the general election to the provincial assembly to avoid any complication as almost a period of two weeks had already passed,” the Dawn report read, citing a statement from the presidency.

“The president emphasized the need for upholding the Constitution and holding general elections within the given time period, which had been mandated by the Constitution, further affirmed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and was essential for strengthening parliamentary democracy in the country.”

Khan, whose party and allies dissolved the two provincial legislatures, was ousted from power in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April and has since been agitating against the central government.

The former premier blames his removal from office on a United States-backed “foreign conspiracy.” Washington and Khan’s opponents deny the allegation.