Recently, a controversy arose with regard to the announcement of the date of election in two provinces: Punjab and KP. The question at hand was determining the competent authority to fix and announce the date of election-whether the President of the country, Election Commission or Governor of the province concerned is competent authority. The President of Pakistan announced the date of election in both of the provinces. This issue came up for deliberation and decision before the Supreme Court. The current Government asserted that it is the Election Commission who is the competent authority to announce the date of election. On the other hand, the opposing party rejected this contention and took a stance that the President holds the authority to competently announce the date of election.
The Supreme Court decided that the President was competent to announce the date of election to the extent of Punjab.
In light of this background, the Government deemed it appropriate to amend the Election Act, 2017. The Government has brought certain changes to the already existing Act and has explicitly mentioned that the power to announce the date of election is vested in the Election Commission.
The amendment act is given below on the link.
election-amedment-act-2023
