PTI Extends Dialogue Offer to Coalition Government for National Elections

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has extended an offer to dialogue with the coalition government to finalize a date for the ‘national elections.

On Thursday, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry told reporters that the country’s political situation was not so dire as to warrant declaring an emergency. He explained that the only way to stop elections in Pakistan would be to discard the Constitution, which would ultimately pave the way for martial law in the country.

The National Assembly passed a resolution that rejected the three-member Supreme Court bench’s “minority” verdict on the Punjab elections. The resolution mandates that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet not implement the decision.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, calling for early nationwide elections since his removal from office in April of the previous year, stated that he would be willing to wait until October for the polls if the PDM government could provide a roadmap that ensured a well-ordered election process.

The political climate in Pakistan heated up on Tuesday when a three-member bench of the Supreme Court unanimously declared the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to delay elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “unconstitutional.”

The bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, including Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, ordered the electoral watchdog to hold the Punjab election on May 14, a verdict strongly opposed by the incumbent government.

The ECP had initially postponed the Punjab election to October 8, citing a resurgence of terror attacks, a shortage of security personnel, and an unprecedented economic crisis. The election was originally scheduled for April 30. However, following the Supreme Court’s order, the election commission set May 14 as the new election date, with the halted polling process set to resume on April 10.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the federal cabinet have unanimously rejected the verdict. Referring to the National Assembly resolution, Fawad Chaudhry said that the government did not want elections and was not abiding by the Constitution. He added that the only solution to the nation’s crises is fresh elections and accused the government of depriving the people of their fundamental right to elect their leaders.

The former information minister stated that his party would go to any extent for general elections in the country. He warned that any interim minister who signed a paper after April 22 would be subject to Article 6, as all actions taken by caretaker ministers after that date would be deemed unconstitutional. In response to a question about the NA resolution, Chaudhry pointed out that the motion was passed by only 42 out of the 372 members of the house. He further explained that a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament is required to overturn the Supreme Court’s verdict.