Daily Times

Amid concerns about the general elections taking place on February 8, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said that those who think the election won’t happen are “mistaken”.

The statement comes as multiple resolutions have been submitted in the Senate seeking a delay in polls, citing security and weather concerns.

However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), earlier in the day, excused itself from adhering to the latest resolution passed in the upper house seeking to delay elections.

In a letter to the Senate Secretariat, the electoral watchdog stated that the resolution was reviewed and the ECP reached the decision that polls cannot be postponed at this stage.

Meanwhile, Senator Dilawar Khan, in a letter to the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, stated that despite the House passing a resolution on January 5 regarding election delay, no action has been taken yet on this matter.

Dilawar further wrote that postponing elections due to security and harsh weather conditions must be taken seriously, or the elections would not remain fair and transparent.

“Those who think elections won’t happen are mistaken. Justice Qazi has said that the elections will happen on February 8 and we’re seeing them happening very soon,” Bilawal said while talking to the media in Qamber Shahadkot. Bilawal declared that elections are on the horizon, and the party will thwart any conspiracies against it and, with the people’s help, form a government in the Centre.

He said that the party’s candidates in Punjab have been given an electoral symbol other than arrow – PPP’s traditional election symbol. “We will approach the ECP against this decision and also seek legal recourse,” he added.

After the “exclusion” of PTI, the contest was between the arrow and the lion, PML-N’s election symbol, vowing to give Nawaz Sharif’s party a tough challenge. Highlighting the ongoing election campaign, the PPP chairman remarked, “Our election campaign has been in progress for some time now, and PPP has presented its economic agreement to the public, seeking their cooperation.”