PTI extends dialogue offer to govt on ‘national elections’ date

Hours after the National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the three-member Supreme Court bench’s "minority" verdict on the Punjab elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has once again extended a dialogue offer to the coalition government to finalise a date for the “national elections” on Thursday.

The NA resolution made it binding on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet not to implement the top court’s verdict in a case relating to the delay in holding elections in Punjab.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan — who has been demanding early elections across the country since his ouster in April last year — earlier said that he was ready to wait till October for polls if the PDM government shares a roadmap with him ensuring that everything would be in order.

Talking to journalists, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that the political situation in the country is not as deteriorating to impose an emergency. “Only way to stop elections in Pakistan is throwing out the Constitution,” he added.

The move will pave the way for martial law in the country, warned the PTI leader.

The political temperatures in the country flared on Tuesday when a three-member bench of the Supreme Court unanimously declared the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) order to delay the election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa "unconstitutional".

The three-member bench — led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan — ordered the electoral watchdog to hold the election in Punjab on May 14 — the verdict strongly opposed by the incumbent government.

The ECP postponed the election date in Punjab to October 8 — initially scheduled to take place on April 30 — citing a resurgence of terror attacks, a shortage of security personnel and an unprecedented economic crisis.

After the apex court's order, the election commission notified May 14 as the election date, with the stalled polling process to resume on April 10.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the federal cabinet have unanimously rejected the verdict.

Referring to the NA resolution, Fawad said that the government did not want elections in the country. “The government was not abiding by the Constitution,” he added.

He also said that the sole solution to all the crises being faced by the country is fresh “elections”. He accused the government of depriving the people of their fundamental right to elect the ruler.

The former information minister said that his party would go to any extent for the general elections in the country.

“After April 22, all the actions taken by the caretaker ministers would be unconstitutional,” claimed the PTI leader and wormed that Article 6 would be applied against the interim minister who would sign any paper after the date.

Responding to a question about the NA resolution, he said that the motion was passed by 42 out of the 372 members of the house.

As per the Constitution, a two-thirds majority in both upper and lower houses of parliament is required to abolish the verdict of the top court, Fawad further said.

To another question about the cabinet division’s declaration, the PTI leader said, “Those ministers who refused to accept the Supreme Court's verdict have committed contempt of court.”