ISLAMABAD / KARACHI: Two key allies in the ruling coalition have apprehensions that the upcoming general elections may be delayed, it emerged on Saturday.

The PPP is worried that disagreements over the digital census and delimitation might delay polls, while JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman isn’t convinced that polls will be held in time, even if the PDM-led coalition hands over the reins of power to a caretaker set-up, as it is supposed to.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said his party believed that timely elections were the only solution to come out of current political and economic mess.

The issue of the census has become contentious after federal ministers categorically said elections — slated to be held in either October or November—.won’t take place based on the digital census held earlier this year.

Kundi says timely polls ‘only way out of political quagmire’; Fazl says onus of deciding ‘right time’ on caretakers’ shoulders

Meanwhile, MQM-P, another ally in the ruling coalition, has demanded elections based on the latest census.

“Elections will be delayed if the issue of the census is raised at this stage,” said Mr Kundi, who is also the PM’s special assistant on poverty alleviation and social safety.

“It is better to conduct elections on the previous census,” he added.

He said PPP has a clear stance that assemblies should complete their tenure and the caretaker government and Election Commission of Pakistan should conduct elections within 60 days.

Two months were enough for election campaigns but if coalition parties wanted 90 days for the campaign, PPP is ready for that, he added.

According to law, if assemblies are dissolved after completing their full term of five years, polls are held after 60 days. However, if assemblies are dissolved early, the caretaker setup is installed for 90 days. The prime minister, earlier this month, stated that assemblies will be dissolved before the term ends, giving credence to reports that the government wanted the caretaker setup to last for three months.

Responding to a question, Mr Kundi said PPP has always emphasised ensuring the rule of law and conveyed to all the political parties that elections should be conducted within 60 days.

Maulana not convinced

The PDM chief also sounded hesitant to guarantee that elections would be held on time, putting the onus on the incoming caretaker government.

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Speaking to reporters during a visit to the residence of GDA chief Syed Sadruddin Shah, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said it was the interim set-up which would determine the right time for the electoral process and “whether it needs more time or not”.

His uncertainty about the prospects of upcoming polls was also reflected in his thoughts when he sarcastically answered a question during his brief media interaction.

“First decide the [fate of] the election and when it should be held. The question of whose supervision it should be held under is not an issue right now,” he said when asked for his stance on the demand for polls to be held under the supervision of the Pakistan army.

Earlier, when asked about the expected schedule of the next polls, the PDM chief said it was not his area.

“We [the PDM government] would quit and the assemblies would be dissolved timely,” he said.

“We have to do our job as defined by the Constitution. But then comes the caretaker setup, which has to look into affairs related with the elections and whether they’re satisfied with all those things or not… it’s not our issue.. it has to be decided by the caretakers. At our end, we are ready for the polls.”

To a question about the political future of PTI chief Imran Khan, he called him a “relic of the past”, adding: “he should not be a part of serious discussion anymore.”

He also accused the former prime minister of “selling out” national institutions to the IMF which had brought economic challenges for the PDM government.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2023