Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has not yet approached the PTI for negotiations, adding that he fears the government might use the pretense of dialogues to delay elections.
\nDuring an interview with a private news channel on Sunday, Imran Khan said that PML-N is running away from the elections by using delaying tactics and trying to somehow postpone the election on May 14, but \u2018We will not go beyond May 14\u2019.
\nHe also stressed that caretaker governments in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) \u2014 the provinces where Khan\u2019s party was in power before he decided to dissolve its two assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively \u2014 are illegal after the lapse of their stipulated term.
\n“The caretaker government’s tenure is over already, it has become illegal,\u201d the deposed premier said. He demanded the caretaker government be abolished and a new “neutral” interim setup be instated.
\nHe added that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has given May 14 as the date for Punjab polls and his party won\u2019t let the government go beyond that.
\n\u201cIf they think they [incumbent government] will pressurise the Supreme Court, we will not let it happen. They will scandalise the top court to run away from elections,\u201d he said.
\nIn response to the PTI’s call for elections in the two provinces, the government has, time and again, insisted on conducting elections \u2014 to the national and provincial assemblies \u2014 together in October.
\nA three-member bench of the Supreme Court \u2014 headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar \u2014 had fixed May 14 as the new date for the election to the Punjab Assembly, as it quashed the Election Commission of Pakistan\u2019s (ECP) decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to Oct 8.
\nWhile security has been cited as a major concern for the government to refuse holding the polls, the lack of funds for carrying out the task has also been communicated as the main reason for their insistence on delay.
\nThe PTI chief shared the suggestion while refusing to back down from his demand for the snap polls. \u201cThere may be no money even in October. The situation may worsen. We cannot go beyond May 14.\u201d
\nThe former prime minister went on to say that inflation irked the public, and the government is running away from its reaction by postponing the elections.
\n\u201cThey are scared of elections,\u201d he said censuring the Shehbaz-led administration.
\nKhan insisted that the ECP is working in connivance with the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) \u2014 an alliance of 13 political parties.
\n\u201cMaryam Nawaz is receiving protocol. The election commission is with them,\u201d he said, directing his criticism towards the electoral body and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice-president.
\nCommenting on the matter of talks with the ruling alliance in Islamabad, Khan said he had given the mandate of negotiations to his party\u2019s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and not to Asad Qaisar \u2014 the former speaker of the National Assembly.
\n\u201cThere has been no discussion on negotiations with Shah Mahmood Qureshi so far,\u201d he clarified as there were reports that some major political parties had reached out to the PTI.
\nEarlier this week, the CJP Bandial said that the apex court could make some room and change the date of elections if all the political parties evolve a consensus to hold talks. The court had earlier also stressed on political parties to sit together to resolve the issues.
\nPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, too, expressed his support for the proposal and called on his allies as well as all other political parties to come together and try to end the ongoing crises.
\nPPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira also confirmed that the ruling alliance made a contact with the PTI. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Siraj Ul Haq has also been actively trying to build a bridge between the PTI and the coalition parties in the government.
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