The date for polls in the country is currently under debate, and on Sunday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah declared that elections to the Punjab Assembly would not be held on May 14, despite all-out efforts by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
While speaking to the media in Faisalabad, he stated that elections across the country would be held at the appointed time this year. He maintained that elections would be held together under the caretaker setup, despite the Supreme Court’s order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, as well as pressure from the Imran Khan-led former ruling party.
“If elections are not held in May, then October is not too far away either,” said the security czar. The PTI had dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition to hold early general elections. Sanaullah called former Prime Minister Imran Khan a “fitna” (chaos) and claimed that he had been brought to power through a “conspiracy.”
He accused the PTI’s policies over four years of creating a crisis situation for the country. Sanaullah highlighted that it was Khan’s government that signed the agreement with the IMF, not them.
The incumbent government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has taken tough measures, including increasing taxes and energy prices and allowing its currency to weaken, to restart a $6.5 billion IMF loan package, which will offer some relief to a nation still reeling from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a recession ahead of elections this year.
The federal minister noted that load-shedding and terrorism had been eradicated during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) tenure and added that due to the PTI’s wrong policies, the country is now facing multiple crises. He also questioned what happened to Khan’s claim of creating 10 million jobs and building five million houses, saying he does not see any evidence of either. Sanaullah further stated that the condition of the common man would improve soon, and the country would progress.
