Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly elections, according to the Supreme Court, must be held within three months.

Pakistan's Islamabad - Elections for the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must be held within 90 days, according to a decision by Pakistan's Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the five-member panel of the supreme court presided by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, issued a split 3-2 judgment. One of the key elements of the constitution is the parliamentary system of government. Without the parliament or the provincial assemblies, there cannot be a parliamentary democracy. Elections, and the regular conducting of elections, thereby support the constitution's foundation, the court ruled in its order.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former prime minister Imran Khan, was in charge of the two provinces' assembly. Khan requested the dissolution of the two assemblies from the provincial governors in January to force early elections. Pakistan has held its national and provincial elections concurrently historically. This year, the general polls must be completed by October. Elections must be held by Pakistan's constitution 90 days following the dissolution of a provincial assembly.

On February 21, PTI-affiliated President Arif Alvi unilaterally set April 9 as the election date in the two provinces, sparking a constitutional crisis and prompting questions about his authority.

The highest court took a suo moto notice of the president's proclamation to ascertain which government body was constitutionally tasked with choosing the dates for the elections.

The court ruled that the president had a constitutional duty to announce the election date in the province because Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman, the governor of Punjab, did not sign the order notifying the dissolution of the legislature. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali was additionally recognized as having violated his constitutional obligations by failing to announce a polling date despite having signed the dissolution order on January 18 according to the top court.

Khan, the PTI chairman, praised the Supreme Court's decision. Also, he declared that his party would start campaign preparations in the two provinces after halting a "fill the jails" protest movement that demanded early elections.

"It was the duty of the Supreme Court to preserve the Constitution, and they bravely did so through their decision today. It is an affirmation of Pakistan's legal system, he said on Twitter.

According to legal scholar Reza Ali, Pakistan's constitution is explicit that elections must be held within 90 days. The Lahore-based attorney told Al Jazeera that it was "quite ludicrous" that the Supreme Court even heard this matter. Ali asserted that the timing of the elections is unclear in the court's order.

The ruling states that the ECP may depart from the constitution's 90-day limit if it is not viable to do so. The electoral watchdog, which may claim that the minimal variation is three months or six months, is left in complete control of this. Hence, maybe one shouldn't anticipate elections in 90 days," he remarked. By delaying the announcement of an election date, Punjab's governor, according to attorney Abuzar Salman Niazi, created an "unnecessary issue."

By adopting the theory of necessity, the Supreme Court has frequently disregarded the Constitution and the law in the past. Although many parties wanted the elections to be delayed, it has maintained this time that the constitution would prevail, Niazi told Al Jazeera.

The top court's judgment, according to Aasiya Riaz of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), a think tank with offices in Lahore, has made the issue of holding staggered elections even more challenging.

"The split order has abstained from addressing the tricky constitutional question, which had to be settled through interpretation by the court. Instead of providing a resolution, the ECP must now publish an election calendar, which will exacerbate the political and constitutional unrest.

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