The Supreme Court is once again dealing with the issue of the election date. A petition has been filed in the court seeking contempt proceedings against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and senators who passed a resolution calling for a delay in the elections scheduled for February 8 this year.
The petition was filed by lawyer Ishtiaque Ahmed Mirza after the Senate Secretariat asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to change the election schedule immediately.
The Senate resolution, which is not binding, called for a delay in the polls, citing the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, an interim minister and various political parties rejected the resolution.
In response to the resolution, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan from Jamaat-e-Islami moved another resolution calling for elections to be held as per the original schedule. The new resolution criticized the previous resolution as “undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
Leaders from various political parties, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, rejected the resolution seeking a delay and affirmed that the elections would proceed as scheduled on February 8, as announced by the ECP.
PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed that PTI was behind the resolution, suggesting a well-thought-out plan. However, PTI leaders countered this claim, asserting that the resolution had no legal or binding force in the constitutional process of holding general elections.
The Supreme Court is now in the process of addressing this latest development related to the election date.