Washington (Web Desk): The United States (US) has urged Pakistan to hold timely, free and fair elections in Pakistan in accordance with country’s laws, amid constitutional crisis regarding elections date.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller in a press briefing stated this in response to a question related to President Arif Alvi proposing that elections should be held no later than November 6 as elections should be held in 90 days.
“As we do with countries around the world, we urge Pakistan to hold a free and fair – free and fair and timely elections, and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,” the spokesperson said.
“And we urge Pakistani authorities to move forward with the electoral process in a manner consistent with Pakistan’s laws, as we do with countries around the world”.
The development comes a day after President Arif Alvi wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja, proposing November 6 as Election Day citing article 48(5) of the Constitution.
The president said he has the authority and mandate “to appoint a date not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution [of assemblies], for holding of a general election to the assembly.”
However, in the same letter, Alvi suggested CEC to seek guidance from the apex court over the poll date as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and other stakeholders said that the elections cannot be held without holding fresh delimitation in accordance with new census.
In the same briefing Miller was asked about improvement in human-to-human relationship between America and Pakistan, on which he replied that “Pakistan is an important partner of ours. And we greatly value the relationship between our countries, both between our two governments and the people-to-people connections”.
Furthermore, in response to question about border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that US would encourage Pakistan and Afghanistan to work together to resolve Torkham border issue.
