Pak interior minister eggs on Imran Khan to dissolve provincial assemblies immediately instead of waiting
Dec 18, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 18 : After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan announced the date for dissolving the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies, federal interior minister Rana Sanaullah on Saturday questioned why there was a need to wait till next week.
"I can't understand what are they waiting to do till next Friday. If they have decided then they should dissolve the assemblies today," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted Sanaullah as saying during an interview on Geo News.
The Pakistan interior minister alleged that Imran Khan "will try to find an excuse that some no-confidence motion appears or a direction from the governor arrives" so Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi could "have an excuse" to continue his tenure.
The minister questioned the logic behind this "drama" of waiting till next week.
"Taking into account the history of the party's u-turns, PTI will back off from its today's announcement of dissolving assemblies within a week. PML-N is not going to offer anything to Pervaiz Elahi owing to his reputation," Sanaullah said in a tweet.
On Saturday, PTI chief Imran Khan announced the dissolving of the assemblies of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces on December 23 to pave the way for fresh polls.
Imran made the announcement in a video address with Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan by his side.
"Till the time free and fair elections are not held, we are all afraid that the country (Pakistan) is sinking," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman said in a video address.
Imran Khan also reiterated his demand for free and fair elections, warning the country might sink otherwise. He said free and fair elections were the only solution to Pakistan's problems and said the government was "afraid" of new elections due to the fear of losing, Dawn reported.
"Once we dissolve both the assemblies, we will hold elections in the provinces. Also, our 123-125 National Assembly members -- whose resignations have not been accepted -- will ask the speaker inside the assembly to accept their resignations," he said.
Elaborating on the PTI's plan of action after dissolving the assemblies, Imran said, "...we will prepare for elections after that and our around 130 seats in the National Assembly. We will go to the National Assembly speaker and demand him to accept our resignations instead of picking a few."
