General election to take place in Pakistan after August: Economic Affairs Minister
Dec 26, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 26 : The general election in pakistan will be conducted after August 2023, Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq announced, according to Geo News citing The News International.
While speaking with the mediapersons, Sadiq on Sunday said, "First we will go to local government elections in April 2023 and then general elections will be held after August 15."
The announcement was made by the minister at a ceremony held in connection with Quaid-e-Azam's birthday and Christmas on Sunday, reported Geo News.
Talking about the dissolution of assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sadiq said that if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's wanted to dissolve the assemblies, he should have done it forthwith instead of giving dates.
"First he said he will fight his own battle and now he is looking towards the establishment to save him and bring him back to power," Sadiq said adding Khan took massive loans during his tenure and that loans caused massive inflation in the country.
Earlier, Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the PTI has planned to dissolve the legislative in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the vote of confidence after the Lahore High Court (LHR) reinstated Elahi as the Chief Minister after he gave assurance that he will not dissolve the legislation, reported The News International.
He stated that the government will be forced to hold elections after the dissolution of both assemblies, as per the news report. He stressed that the delay in elections even after PTI's move "won't affect" the party.
Imran Khan predicted that the elections will take place in April 2023. His statement comes a day after he said that the elections might be conducted in March or April. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government has repeatedly rejected PTI's demand to hold snap elections and stressed that they would take place at their scheduled time.
As per the news report, the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) are discussing the date of dissolution and seat adjustment before they head into elections. However, PML-Q has repeatedly said that they are awaiting Imran Khan's instructions regarding the date of dissolution, according to The News International.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday reinstated PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the Punjab chief minister, The Express Tribune reported. The court's decision came after Elahi gave an undertaking assuring the court that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly if he is reinstated as Chief Minister of Punjab.
The court in its ruling also restored Punjab's cabinet, as per the news report. The court issued the directives after a five-member bench took up Elahi's plea challenging Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman's orders to de-notify him as the provincial chief executive, as per The News International.
Shortly after reinstatement, Parvez Elahi in a tweet said, "The decision to dissolve the assemblies is final, Imran Khan's decision will be fully implemented. The imported government wants to run away from the elections. We will present the imported government in the people's court and the final decision will be the people's."
