Ich was not only February 11, which not only goes beyond the 90-day constitutional limit, but even beyond the ECP’s own statement that it hold polls in the last week of January, after the completion of the fresh delimitations that served as the pretext for the delay. However, it must be welcome that the date has to gone to the March, April and even beyond, that was being predicted by some. It cannot be a good sign that the ECP only gave the date when faced with a case in the Supreme Court, but the ECP has got a record of disobeying Supreme Court orders, as it did for the Islamabad local body polls and the Punjab and KP Assembly elections. It should be noted that the date revealed will mean that the federal government will have remained in office for six months, or about twice the Constitutional limit, while the Punjab and KP caretakers will be going well beyond a year in office. That there has to be an accounting of this gross and blatant violation of the Constitution goes without saying, because it means that what should have been unthinkable has happened, and can happen again.
Now is the time for the ECP, which has revealed this date in such dramatic fashion, must begin preparations for the poll. First it must deal with the delimitations in a way that will make the polls credible. The best way of countering the inevitable cries of gerrymandering will be to ensure that it makes the process as transparent as possible, which includes taking all the steps necessary to remove the objections of politicians which will be made after the elections. Another problem for the ECP is ensuring a level playing field for all parties, including the PTI. It has to make sure that the results of the poll are accepted by at least the public if not the parties. For that the judiciary will have to display an evenhandedness between parties that does not seem to prevail at the moment. This becomes all the more important with the PTI Chairman in jail, on trial in the cipher case, and likely to face trial over the May 8 incidents. sure security during the campaign, as well as during the polling itself. There does
More generally, the ECP will have to ensure that the contestants enjoy a modicum of security. The security situation has not yet deteriorated, but experience of past elections indicates that this must remain a primary consideration.
