Defense Minister Khawaja Asif. (File)
Pakistan Political and economic crisis is going on in India for the last several months. while the former prime minister Imran Khan The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) The party had expressed apprehensions that the ruling coalition may delay the holding of the general elections. There itself Defense Minister Khawaja Asif Rejecting the speculations of postponing the elections, he said that there will be general elections in Pakistan in October this year without any delay.
According to information received from media reports, political experts believe that only free, fair and timely general elections can bring back political stability in Pakistan, which is facing a serious economic crisis.
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Government will delay the general elections
In fact, there has been a ruckus in Pakistan regarding former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan alleges that the government wants to put him in jail. Many times he had also raised questions about the elections. Imran’s party PTI had alleged that the government may deliberately delay the general elections.
Elections will be held within 60 days
At the same time, Defense Minister Khwaja Asif, while dismissing all the allegations, said that the assemblies will complete their five-year term in August and elections will be held within the next 60 days. Elections will be held on time. On the other hand, when he was asked what he meant by ‘on time’, he replied that the elections would be held in October without any delay.
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Assembly term ends
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, a general election to the National Assembly or Provincial Assemblies shall be held within 60 days after the day on which the term of the assembly expires. Unless the assembly is already dissolved. In January this year, the PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies in the hope that this would force the government to dissolve other assemblies and elections would be held within 90 days.
Opposition to holding separate elections
However, this did not happen as the talks between the government and the PTI to fix the election date did not yield results. The government repeatedly opposed holding snap elections or holding separate elections for national and provincial assemblies, citing lack of security, funding and new census results. Even with the intervention of the Supreme Court, elections could not be held in the two provinces where caretaker governments are functioning even after the expiry of their 90-day term.
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Formation of three member committee
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which is a part of the ruling coalition, also formed a three-member committee to persuade other parties in the government to hold the elections on time. PPP co-chairman and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has even said that postponing the general elections beyond October would be “foolish”.
Tenure will be completed on August 12
Apart from this, the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) has called for holding fair elections for all assemblies by October 2023. The National Assembly in Pakistan will complete its 5-year term on 12 August. Pildat said that a possible date has been suggested for the general elections. However, it also states that if the National Assembly is dissolved even a day before the completion of its term, elections must be held within 90 days.