Pak Election Commission postpones elections in Punjab till October, Imran Khan calls it a violation of the constitution

Pakistan’s top election body has postponed assembly elections in the politically crucial Punjab province by more than five months, citing the deteriorating security situation in the cash-strapped country. The move has been criticized by Imran Khan, former prime minister and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

In an order issued late on Wednesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that after considering the reports, briefings and material brought before the commission, it has been concluded that holding the elections originally scheduled for April and Impossible to organize.

The ECP said it withdraws the election schedule and new schedules will be issued with the polling date on October 8. The assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces were dissolved by the previous governments of Khan’s party on 14 and 18 January, respectively.

The ECP said that after briefing the government and various departments and intelligence agencies, it was decided that “the law and order situation in the country does not permit the holding of elections in any province at this time”. approached the Ministries of Interior and Finance for a meeting, where the Special Secretary for Internal Affairs stated that “the deteriorating law and order situation, the charged political climate and free, fair and peaceful elections are not possible. The Finance Secretary had cited the paucity of funds and the ongoing financial crisis as the reason for the lack of funds for the elections. The ECP said that several senior-level members of security agencies, including the police and the defense minister, and the federal government had recommended delaying the election. Khan condemned the ECP’s move to postpone the election till October, calling it a violation of Pakistan’s constitution.