Caretaker Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Murtaza Solangi hinted on Thursday that there might be a delay in the next general elections. The 54-day campaigning period for the elections on February 8, 2024, started on December 16, but the officers in charge of overseeing the elections couldn’t start their three-day training because of a PTI petition from the Lahore High Court.
The temporary information minister made it clear that the government was ready to give the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) financial, administrative, and security support right away.
He went on to say that because of the LHC’s decision, the ECP had to stop training the returning officers (ROs) right before the electoral body was supposed to announce the election schedule and start the official voting process.
The day before, LHC Justice Ali Baqar Najafi agreed with the PTI’s case against the PTI’s choice of district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and assistant returning officers (AROs) from the Punjab government for the general elections.
In its plea, the party also asked the court to help it name judicial officers as ROs.
In interviews on private TV news channels, the interim information minister said that the ECP had to give political parties a minimum of 54 days to campaign for the election. He said that this time had to start on December 16 if the election was to happen on February 8, 2019.
But the caretaker minister said the court’s ruling was a setback and that the caretaker government’s view on the elections had not changed.
Solangi hoped that the ECP and the courts would take care of the problem.
The interim minister didn’t name the PTI, but he did say that the party was trying to stall the elections. He said that the ECP was moving quickly to hold the general elections, but a political party was making it hard for them to happen.
Solangi said he was surprised that someone was trying to make it so that the elections might not happen on time.
Even though it may seem strange, the interim government, major political parties, and the ECP all got into a fight on Thursday. The spokesman for the caretaker setup and the PML-N accused the PTI of trying to delay the general elections.
But the PTI said the problem was with the ECP. The election body denied the party’s claims, saying it couldn’t be held responsible for what was happening.
The Supreme Court recently said that people couldn’t even talk about delaying the elections. This decision from the courts started the debate about delaying the elections just as the DROs, ROs, and AROs were about to start the process officially by accepting nomination papers from candidates and making sure that voters had everything they needed.
Former prime minister and head of the PML-N Shehbaz Sharif said the PTI was planning a “conspiracy” to push back the general elections from February 8 to March 2.
He said that the PTI was working together to push back the general elections by objecting to the appointment of ROs from the provincial government, since they hadn’t done this before the 2018 polls.
Shehbaz said that the PTI’s plea was an effort to stop people from being represented.
He also said that the party’s plea to the high court was an attempt to avoid the elections.
The head of the PML-N party said that the PTI was planning a plot against the general election on February 8 that was similar to the cypher case. He said that the move showed that the PTI’s policy was biassed and inconsistent.
At the same time, Shehbaz said, the PTI was asking for general elections, but it was also asking the courts to delay the elections.
He went on to say that the PTI would be to blame if the February 8 elections were pushed back.
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He was prime minister before and said that the PTI had taken different public and internal positions on the cypher scandal.
Adding to that, he said that the PTI was now being just as dishonest about the polls.
Shehbaz said the PTI wanted political instability by causing a constitutional crisis in Pakistan. He said the party didn’t want the country to become financially stable or for people to no longer be having problems with their money.
According to Barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi, a lawyer for the PTI, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider had issued dozens of maintenance of public orders (MPOs) against the party leadership and its followers. Haider was appointed as a DRO by the ECP.
He said that only a fool would think that she would make sure that elections in Punjab’s provincial city were free and fair.
“We only want ROs from the courts.” “On Thursday, she (Lahore DC) sent an MPO against PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat,” he said.
As per Barrister Niazi, the party filed writ petitions in all high courts asking for the appointment of judicial officers as DROs and ROs. This was done at the request of former PTI head Imran Khan and the party’s core committee.
He went on to say that all of these cases were still being looked at by different high courts.
The PTI lawyer said that he had done what was asked of him and filed a writ case with the LHC.
“We are very worried and that worries are reasonable.” Through the bureaucracy that works for the current Nazi and totalitarian caretaker government, which is biassed and partial, it will meddle in the general elections in a way that hurts the PTI, he said.
In his defence, Barrister Niazi said that the deputy commissioners who issued several MPOs against PTI leaders and followers were actually DROs.
He also said that the LHC had said that all of the MPOs issued by the Lahore DC were illegal and against the constitution. He went on to say that the LHC had even made it expensive to issue “frivolous” MPOs.
He asked, “Can we expect free, fair, and independent elections with these people in charge?”
Barrister Niazi said that the “nefarious plan” to meddle in the elections through a “compromised” administration had been stopped by the LHC’s stay order.
“The PTI is not in court to put off the elections. Instead, they want to make sure they happen on time and are free, fair, and impartial.” The judge said, “We are ready to argue even on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in front of the Lahore High Court. This will be decided in two days.”
That the PTI was the “most popular party” in Pakistan was what the lawyer said. “Unlike other parties, which are avoiding the polls, it [PTI] is relentlessly pursuing the elections.” “For the past year, it’s been the only party in Pakistan fighting for early elections,” he said.
