PDM reports to SC that “substantial progress” has been made in talks with PTI.
According to Dar’s official statement, all parties involved have agreed on a certain date for the elections to take place.
ISLAMABAD:
On Friday, the ruling coalition reported to the Supreme Court (SC) that negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) proposing a single election date had advanced significantly.
Since the talks began, a lot of ground has been covered. In a statement released by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, one of the dialogue committee members, the coalition partners said, “We believe that political issues can best be resolved through dialogue and are ready to resume the same in the larger national interest.”
The statement reaffirmed that “the committee further agreed that the caretaker governments should be in place at both the federal and provincial levels for holding general elections justly, fairly, and in accordance with law and to provide level playing field to the leadership of all political parties to actively participate in the electoral process.”
Dar noted, “There is, however, no agreement on the date of dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan, and both committees had agreed on 02-05-2023 to resume negotiations after getting clearance from their respective leadership.”
In addition to their casual discussions on April 29 and May 1, the two committees convened five official meetings on April 27, 28, and May 2, according to the statement.
Discussions with the IMF
The committee also informed the PTI committee that negotiations with the IMF and friendly nations had reached a critical juncture.
“it is of utmost necessity that the agreements with the IMF and friendly countries are concluded before the Annual Budget 2023-24,” the statement continued.
The statement emphasized the need of finishing the IMF’s ninth review, passing the annual budget for FY 2023-24, and approving the trade policy for 2023-24 before dissolving the National Assembly.
According to the SC’s report, Pakistan’s stock market “stands downgraded to a frontier market” after previously being the top performing emerging stock market in South Asia and the fifth best internationally.
“The PTI committee acknowledged the gravity of economic challenges being faced by Pakistan and agreed to negotiate on holding general elections to the national and all provincial assemblies on the same date,” the statement said.
It also stated that the coalition partners were willing to compromise in order to reach a political settlement, and that they had discussed calling early elections for the assemblies.
Friday (today) will see the return of hearings on topics connected to general elections before the three-judge bench of the supreme court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial.
The PTI filed a CMA with the Supreme Court two days earlier, asking that the court’s order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14 be enforced.
The PTI applied to the court asking that elections be held in Punjab on May 14 and included a report on the talks it and the government had held to determine the poll date.
In its plea, the party notified the Supreme Court that “despite the best efforts of the parties,” the government and PTI were unable to agree on a date for the Punjab Assembly elections that was consistent with the Constitution.
