Daily Times

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal here on Wednesday said that the next general elections were not possible before July-August 2023 in the wake of relief and rehabilitation activities in flood hit areas of the country, and delimitation after results of new population census.

“In March 2023, the results of new population census would be received, and after that, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would require at least four months to finalise delimitation across the country, so the time frame automatically goes till July-August 2023 and before this, holding of next general elections is not possible administratively,” he said while talking to media.

Similarly, the minister said, the government will remain engaged in the rehabilitation of the people in flood areas for next six to eight months. Therefore, during this period, holding of general elections will mean neglecting the poor people badly affected by the recent floods and torrential rains, he said. “If Imran Khan is insisting to announce the date for elections, so I am giving him the date today that next general elections would be held in October 2023,” he said.

Ahsan Iqbal maintained that Imran Khan himself knew very well that the elections were not possible in next six to eight months, but he was making fuss and threatening of calling long march and sit-in against the sitting government only to sabotage the country’s economy and to demoralize certain institutions. Imran Khan, he said, tried to obstruct the launch of the mega China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) back in 2014 when due to his sit-in in Islamabad, the visit of Chinese President delayed that resulted in delay of CPEC project by around 10 months. Now again, Imran Khan is threatening to call a long march when the 11th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on CPEC, an important decision making body, is going to be held by end of current month, he alleged, adding that the prime minister’s important visit to China is also likely next month, so in this context, any attempt to destabilise the government would dent the CPEC’s progress.