General Elections in Pakistan will be held on 11 February of next year as the Election Commission of Pakistan informed the Supreme Court on Thursday.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court resumed hearing petitions calling for elections within 90 days on Thursday.

Led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the bench includes Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah.

Multiple petitions filed for elections within 90 days are being heard together. The petitioners include the Supreme Court Bar Association as well as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

The case was last heard on October 23, where the bench had issued notices to the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The hearing

The hearing began with Ali Zafar presenting his arguments on behalf of the PTI. He told the court that his arguments would be based on a singular point.

Zafar said that the matter of elections within 90 days has become ineffective so the PTI only wishes for elections to be announced now.

Justice Isa asked the counsel if the president could only announce election date after a consultation with the prime minister, to which Zafar replied in the negative.

Zafar argued that President Arif Alvi had already announced the election date in his letter to the ECP. He also read out the president’s letter out loud in court.

Justice Athar Minallah asked Zafar why it had taken the president so long to write the letter to which Justice Isa also chipped in by asking if the President was asking the court for an opinion.