Daily Times

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Monday said that for the PML-N, the idea of early elections is on the cards but the final decision in this regard will be mutually made by the coalition parties. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, the interior minister said the PML-N is, was, and will be bound by the coalition parties’ decision regarding the dissolution of the assemblies. “The decision will be made after we present the matter before the parties,” said the interior minister. Talking about the Punjab by-elections on July 17 and PML-N’s defeat against the PTI, Sanaullah said that his party was “moving forward by accepting the results”. “The 20 seats do not challenge or measure the PML-N’s popularity as the candidates who were electioneering for these constituencies were not ours,” he added. The PML-N leader said that all the 20 seats belonged to the PTI, out of which “we won five”.

Calling it a “timely defeat”, Sanaullah said that the party will have discussions with these candidates in the next elections. The interior minister said that the party thinks Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez Elahi should not be allowed to become the chief minister that easily as he is “neither democratic nor tolerant and does not respect anyone”. Berating PTI Chairperson Imran Khan for targeting Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, Sanaullah said that he was attacking the CEC since the commission had reserved its verdict on PTI’s foreign funding case.

“You [Imran Khan] blackmail institutions just to get your own way,” he said, adding that the PML-N condemns Khan’s blackmailing and that he will not be allowed to act this way. “We stand with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).”

Following the PTI chairperson’s demand for CEC’s resignation, the PML-N leader said that “this crazy person is still talking about elections getting rigged even after winning them.” “Would you [Imran Khan] believe in transparent elections only if you had won 20 out of 20 seats?” asked Sanaullah. He said that his party is standing with the ECP even after facing defeat in the elections.