ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated that simultaneous elections will take place in Octo­ber or November after the current National Asse­mbly completes its term on Aug 13, whereas parliament will have the final say regarding the initiation of talks with the PTI.

The premier made these remarks while addressing a meeting of the heads of allied parties held at the Prime Minister’s House a day before the Supreme Court takes up the polls delay case, which had set May 14 as the deadline for polls in Punjab.

According to the PM: “This is our moral and political responsibility to respect the decisions previously taken by parliament.”

“Hence, decisions regar­­ding whether elections should be held and if they should be held on one day…there is complete unity among the allied parties…the assembly will complete its term [on Aug 13] and polls will be held on a date following the completion of 90 days,” PM Shehbaz said, apparently refusing to abide by the top court’s directive to hold Punjab polls on May 14.

Says govt wants to talk to PTI, format yet to be decided

“The parliament has objections over the four-three decision of the Supreme Court. Today we have taken a firm stance that it was the decision of four-three judges but the apex court wanted to take forw­ard the decision of [the] three-member ben­ch,” the premier said.

He said the challenges faced by the government in the last few months were taken to parliament for their resolution. “The National Assembly and the joint house dealt with these challenges — regarding the matters of the SC — through constitutional and legal measures,” he added.

The PM recalled that parliament had “rejected the decision of the three-member bench and asserted that the federal government’s stance had not changed even today”.

On April 4, a three-member bench of the apex court quashed the Elec­tion Commission of Pakis­tan’s (ECP) decision to delay the elections in the province from April 30 to October 8, ruling that the move was “unconstitutional, without lawful auth­o­rity or jurisdiction, void ab-initio, [and] of no legal effect”.

Talks with PTI

Mr Sharif said it was important to inform the public that the PTI, instead of helping the government solve the current challenges, had exploited the situation and allegedly attempted to sabotage the deal with the IMF. He claimed the PTI had made all-out efforts to spread anarchy in the country and polarize the society. “Even the Pakistan Army and its leadership were not spared. Some PTI agents outside Pakistan, who are enemies of the country, played a role that even an enemy won’t play… they issued such statements and tweets that are unimaginable,” the premier claimed.

But the government wanted to talk to the PTI, he said, adding that there was an overwhelming opinion that the doors of dialogue should not be closed, but its format was yet to be decided. “The decision [regarding talks] has to be taken by parliament, not you or me,” he added.

“There is also an opinion that we can convey our stance to them [the opposition] via the National Assembly speaker and then a parliamentary committee can take up the matter so that the nation can know that this allied government has made all-out efforts to ensure that everyone agrees on one-day polls,” he said.

During the meeting, the huddle reiterated that elections in all provincial and the National Assembly will be held on the same date which would be decided by parliament.

The ruling parties also authorised the speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, to form a parliamentary committee and consult all stakeholders to decide when elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should take place. The ruling coalition, while rejecting the apex court’s decision, said that the Supreme Court should not act as a panchayat (arbitrator).

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023