Daily Times

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul- Haque on Wednesday said the upcoming general elections in the country would be held after the completion of the digital census and delimitation of constituencies.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, he said: “The digital census will continue till April 10 after which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) needs four months for completing de-limitation of constituencies that made it clear that general elections in the country are not possible before October or November 2023.”

Commenting on early polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said that the presence of political governments in two provinces would compromise the credibility of the general elections, adding in the presence of biased administration free, fair and transparent elections would not be possible.

Syed Amin-ul-Haque said the political unrest was increasing with each passing day and leading the country to an economic crisis. “As a political party, we want stability in the country. In any case, democracy should remain permanent.”

He said former Prime Minister Imran Khan was bent upon spreading chaos and anarchy in the country to achieve his political motives. Amin said Imran Khan should show some patience and consult genuine workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) before taking any decision. Imran Khan was confused and unable to take any decision and due to this confusion, the future of the entire country was at stake, he added.

He said Imran Khan needed to adopt a clear and categorical policy so that the political and democratic process in the country could move forward. The country had already been facing political and economic crises and that too was due to wrong economic policies pursued by the PTI government during its previous tenure.

The minister said Imran Khan came into power with a promise to provide five million houses and 10 million jobs to the masses, but he failed to do so during his four-year government tenure which was marred by corruption and economic turmoil. He said the country’s aviation industry bore billions of rupee losses just due to one statement of Imran Khan’s cabinet members on the floor of the house regarding the pilots. Wheat and sugar crises were among the other blunders of Imran Khan’s government which failed to provide relief to the masses, especially in Karachi.

Imran Khan did not spend a single day in Karachi where his party secured 14 seats in the last general election, he said, adding no substantial relief was given to the masses during the PTI’s government tenure. He said Imran Khan took U-turns on almost every stance whether it was related to the regime change conspiracy, en mass resignations of PTI members or the ‘court the arrest’ drive announced by Imran Khan.

Amin said Imran Khan launched a “suicide attack on democracy” by dissolving the Parliament on April 5, 2022 in the wake of a no-trust motion moved by the then-opposition for his ouster from power. He said, “No-confidence motion was a constitutional move”. The minister also suggested a full court bench of the Supreme Court to hear elections case in the two provinces. He also appealed to the judiciary to take decisions on merit instead of popularity as everybody was equal before the law under the Constitution. “Justice should not only be done but it seems to be done,” the minister remarked.