PML-N leader Malik Ahmed Khan on Tuesday accused former prime minister Imran Khan of wanting to \u201calter the election cycle\u201d of the country by attempting to force elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before general elections \u2014 something he deemed a \u201cflawed scheme\u201d.
\nAddressing a press conference in Islamabad, Malik Ahmed explained why holding national and provincial assemblies\u2019 elections \u2014 which have traditionally been staged in tandem \u2014 separately would be a bad idea.
\nHe said the Constitution clearly states that a caretaker government must be in place for elections. \u201cWhen elections in two provinces will be carried out, the federal government will still be intact and then questions will be raised over the impartiality of the elections,\u201d he added.
\nThe PML-N leader said the election cycle Imran wanted to bring in would have two freshly elected provincial assemblies in place during the National Assembly elections.
\nHe said that if provincial and general elections were to be allowed to be held separately, it would break the election cycle forever, with the new arrangement seeing the provincial assemblies influencing NA polls.
\n\u201cHow will there be fair and free elections this way as mandated in the Constitution?\u201d the PML-N leader asked as he alleged that \u201cyou (Imran) have gone crazy in the lust for power.
\nHe accused Imran of being \u201ctwo-faced\u201d when dealing with constitutional matters, and recalled how the PTI chief had \u201cviolated\u201d the Constitution by sending a summary to the President for the dissolution of the National Assembly despite knowing he could not have done so \u2014 according to Article 95 \u2014 after the submission of a no-confidence motion against him.
\n\u201cWas it mandated for former Punjab governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema to administer the oath to the-then Punjab chief minister Hamza Shahbaz?\u201d Malik Ahmed said. \u201cWhen you (Imran) break the Constitution, it\u2019s a joke but when we haven\u2019t even done so as yet, you are blaming us.\u201d
\nCommenting on the upcoming by-elections of the National Assembly, Malik Ahmed said the Punjab Governor Baligurh Rehman was not bound by the Constitution to announce an election date because he did not direct the dissolution of assemblies.
\n\u201cIf the assemblies are dissolved automatically as a consequence of the advice, you cannot blame him for violating the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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