• Punjab seat fell vacant after death of Irfan Siddiqui
• Critics say decision is meant to help PML-N, allowing it more time to pick candidate
ISLAMABAD: In yet another violation of the Constitution, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken the poll date for a Senate seat from Punjab beyond the deadline stipulated in the green book.
The schedule for by-election on the seat, which fell vacant due to death of PML-N parliamentary leader in the Senate Irfanul Haque Siddiqui, has been amended within 48 hours of its issuance.
“In exercise of powers conferred under Article 218(3) read with Article 254 of the Constitution, Sections 107 and 128 of the Elections Act, 2017, and all other powers enabling in this behalf, the Election Programme issued vide Notification of even number dated 17th November, 2025, for conduct of Senate Election against one general seat from Punjab province, which fell vacant due to death of Mr Irfanul Haque Siddiqui, is hereby amended due to ongoing activities of (12) By-Elections in different National/Provincial Assembly constituencies. Consequently, above referred Notification stands modified,” said a notification issued by the ECP on Wednesday.
The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was purportedly issued on Wednesday, but emerged only on Thursday, a day before the last date for filing nominations under the original schedule. Surprisingly, the notification is still not available on the ECP’s official website.
Under Article 224(5) of the Constitution, a vacancy in the Senate is to be filled within 30 days from the date of its occurrence. The Senate seat became vacant on Nov 10, and by-election was supposed to be held by Dec 9, the date previously fixed as the poll day.
A senior ECP official when contacted said the schedule had been amended due to other ongoing electoral activities and not under any political influence. He said that under Article 254 of the Constitution, “When any act or thing is required by the Constitution to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or otherwise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period”.
He also referred to Section 107 of the Elections Act, which specifies timeline for various stages of Senate elections starting from inviting nominations and said under Section 128 of the Act, “The Commission may, for reasons which it considers sufficient, extend the time for completion of an election to the Senate by making necessary amendments in the notification issued under Section 107”.
He, however, could not explain as to how by-polls in some constituencies necessitate putting off Senate by-polls where members of a provincial assembly are to cast votes.
Critics say the decision was clearly meant to please the PML-N, allowing it more time to pick a candidate for the seat. They point out that the poll date for by-election on 13 National and provincial assembly seats was Nov 23 and insist that there was no cogent reason to delay the Senate by-election for a month after that.
Under the schedule issued on Nov 17, nomination papers were to be submitted on Nov 20 and 21 while scrutiny of documents was to be completed by Nov 25.
The electoral body also announced Nov 29 as the final date for filing of appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers and Dec 1 as the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The candidates will now file nomination papers on Dec 4 and 5. Each step has been delayed for around two weeks. The polling will be held on Dec 24 instead of Dec 9.
Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2025
