LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has reiterated his party’s readiness for simultaneous elections if the ruling alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) dissolves all assemblies before May 14.
This statement was made by Khan during an address to a rally in Lahore on Monday, as the PTI and ruling alliance are set to hold a final round of talks over the election date on Tuesday, on the instructions of the Supreme Court.
The supreme court had instructed both sides to sit down and evolve consensus for holding general elections across the country simultaneously, after the federal government refused to follow the apex court’s orders on releasing funds to the electoral body, ECP, for holding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
As two sessions of talks were held last week between the PDM and PTI delegations, the government proposed that elections take place after the budget, which is presented in June, while the PTI insisted on early elections.
During his address, Khan accused the government of wanting to hold elections after they believed he would be out of their way, and said that if the government thought they could stall and the PTI would wait, they were wrong.
Imran Khan asks govt to dissolve assemblies for talks to succeed
Khan added that his party would put forth only one proposal in the meeting on Tuesday: dissolve all assemblies – Balochistan, Sindh, and national – and head for polls before May 14.
Imran Khan, who was ousted as premier in April last year, has been protesting against the government for what he calls “injustice” since then. He blames the ruling alliance for hatching a conspiracy to remove him from office.
In January this year, Khan had the Punjab and KP assemblies dissolved to force the federal government into holding elections across Pakistan, but the PDM did not comply, leading to further political turmoil and damage to the economy.
The ruling alliance and the PTI leaders have cast doubt over the fruitfulness of Tuesday’s talks, but Khan’s readiness for simultaneous elections if assemblies are dissolved before May 14 has added another layer of uncertainty to the already fraught situation in Pakistan’s political landscape.
