Following the leader.

The letter written by the President to the Prime Minister regarding the postponement of the election in Punjab in which he almost blamed the federal government for the decision taken by the ECP which he thinks is a violation of the constitution and SC orders and has also talked about the violation of human rights concerning the arrest of PTI workers has been rightly likened to a press release of the PTI by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in his rejoinder to it. It is a befitting and comprehensive response to the points raised by the President including aspects related to the constitution and I will not go into details in this regard as it has already been reported by the media. In my considered view the contents of the President's letter and its tone and tenor were unbecoming of the stature of his office, to say the least.

In the first place, it was an ill: conceived move on his part to blame the government for the postponement of elections in Punjab. The decision was not taken by it but by the Election Commission of Pakistan in light of the permeating security situation and non: availability of security personnel for election duty after long interaction with the concerned agencies. Security during the election is the foremost consideration particularly in the current situation when the country is in the grip of the resurgence of terrorist attacks. The ECP in its notification has given references to the Election Act 2017, constitutional clauses, and the decision of the SC to justify the postponement of the election. The fact is that the President has blamed the wrong party. The PTI has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the postponement of elections in Punjab contending that the action was a violation of the constitution and the SC orders in this regard that warranted contempt of court proceedings. The apex court has noticed the ECP, federal government and KP governor seeking their take on the petition filed by PTI has already started hearing the case. Now the ball is in the court of SC and its verdict.

However, I can humbly point out that according to my understanding, the ECP acted strictly to the verdict of the court. In paragraph 14 of the verdict, the apex court said 'The Election Commission is therefore directed to use its utmost efforts to immediately propose, keeping in mind sections 57 and 58 of the 2017 Act, a date to the President that is compliant with the aforesaid deadline. If such a course is not available, then the...