The Senate hurried through a resolution asking for the postponement of the February 8 polls on the grounds that it was too cold, and that the security situation was too poor. The House that passed the resolution was attended by only 15 members, well below the quorum of 33, but as no one pointed out the quorum, the House was not adjourned. The government’s point of view was not easily ascertained, as it was opposed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Solangi (and the PML(N)’s Afnanullah Khan), but Mr Solangi’s reasons were not given in any depth, though he did point out that it was up to the Election Commission of Pakistan to decide any polling date. Senator Afnan put both the 2008 and 2013 polls in February, even though the actual polling dates were 11 May and February 18. However, his point was still validated by the 2013 poll, which was actually scheduled for January 8, and only moved forward because of PPP chief Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December 2007.
The weather is a bad reason to call for poll postponement. February 8 is pleasant in most of the country, and while some constituencies in Northern Punjab and KP might experience communication difficulties in years of excessive snowfall, it simply hasn’t happened. Even then, it would not be logical to postpone polls on all 207 seats just because half a dozen are affected. Indeed, on previous such occasions, the ECP has not even ordered repolling in the whole constituency, but only affected polling stations. The security situation is also an illogical ground, because it has no benchmarks. How many people have to be killed, or attacked, before the ECP postpones the poll? Though the 2008 poll was targeted, the ECP stayed the course.
Perhaps the worst result of such resolutions is that the uncertainty surrounding the elections is compounded. If its resolution was actually followed, it would probably mean the disintegration of the Senate, half of which retires in March. The electoral college for their replacements are the provincial assemblies, which are to be elected on February 8, and it is ironic that the Senate itself is trying to put off its own renewal. No doubt the caretaker governments, despite Mr Solangi’s opposition to the resolution, are probably the only ones who like to stay around, even longer than the three months over the constitutionally prescribed limit, but statements from caretakers, including no one less than the caretaker PM himself, Mr Anwarul Haq Kakar, give the impression of permanence.
