ISLAMABAD: In what could be a pleasant surprise for many Pakistanis, especially young ones, Thursday’s Google Doodle has reminded Pakistan of the elections due in 2023.
Last held in 2018, the next general elections are scheduled to be held within 60 days after the current national assembly expires on August 13 or within 90 days if the assembly is dissolved even a day before the expiry of the assembly.
The last election in Pakistan saw former cricketer Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party securing a comfortable victory by winning 149 of the 342 seats in the national assembly with a vote share of 31.82 percent.
However, Khan’s government was ousted from the power in 2022 and the PDM-led government took over. Khan had blamed the then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the US for planning his ouster.
Pakistan usually holds provincial and national assembly elections together. Google’s Doodle features a ballot box with the Pakistani flag in the middle, a clear reference to polls due later this year in the Muslim-dominated country.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been calling for early polls in the country while the ruling alliance has argued that the ongoing economic and security crises in the country make it difficult to hold any elections. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the ruling alliance led by PM Shehbaz Sharif to release funds for the polls in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on May 14 but the latter didn’t comply with the orders.
PTI had dissolved the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in a bid to force the government to call snap polls but so far it has not succeeded in making the government announced elections.
