Pakistan’s Punjab To Vote On April 30

Pakistan’s President has accepted the recommendations of the Election Commission by setting April 30 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, hours after the poll body proposed the exercise be conducted between April 30 and May 7, preferably on a Sunday. The electoral body, which met for a third consecutive day on Friday, had written to the president suggesting dates for elections in compliance with the recent Supreme Court order that allowed a ‘minimum possible delay’ beyond the constitutional limit of 90 days, in case of practical difficulties. The Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and January 18, respectively. Under the law, elections were supposed to be held within 90 days after dissolution—in this case not later than April 13 and April 17 in Punjab and KP, respectively. The election commission also wrote to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor following the top court order and said it was awaiting his response, reports Dawn.