Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main ally Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has supported Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) demand to hold constitutional elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days.
The Imran Khan-led PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in an attempt to secure a date for general elections in the country. This has been the main demand of the PTI since Khan was ousted through a no-confidence vote in April last year.
“It has been 25 days and no date has been given for the election. Article 6 will be applied to those who postpone the election beyond the constitutional period,” Khan said in a televised address to the nation on February 6. was
Khan also highlighted that his party decided to dissolve both assemblies as the country was going through instability. “Governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were dissolved under the constitution,” he added.
On Thursday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Security Faisal Karim Kundi endorsed Khan’s demand for elections, saying, “PPP will tell the allies to follow them. What is in the law and the constitution?”
SAPM noted that elections were held in the country despite the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The PPP leader also raised the question that why did PTI not conduct local body elections in Punjab during the government?
Kundi alleged that the PTI used the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for political targeting of opponents and political engineering. He claimed that PTI filed false cases against leaders of political parties but was unable to produce any evidence against them in courts during its tenure.
SAPM asserted that the PPP leadership did not believe in any political vendetta and did not use NAB or any other institution for political vendetta against opponents.
Responding to a question regarding the elections, Kundi said that the governor is only required to provide recommendations, while it is the duty of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the date of the elections.
He emphasized the need to conduct elections according to the constitution. He asked the ECP to plan for conducting transparent elections across the country.
