FAISALABAD: The Interior Minister of Pakistan, Rana Sanaullah, has announced that the Punjab Assembly elections will not be held on May 14, despite the all-out efforts of the opposition political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Speaking to the media in Faisalabad, he said that elections across the country would be held at the stipulated time this year. He added that if elections were not held in May, then October was not too far away either.
The Supreme Court had ordered the Punjab Assembly elections to be held on May 14, but the security czar stated that the elections would be “held together” under the caretaker setup.
The PTI had dissolved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies earlier this year in a bid to force the ruling alliance to hold early general elections.
Sanaullah called former Prime Minister Imran Khan a “fitna” (chaos), stating that he had been brought to power through a “conspiracy”. He further said that the PTI’s policies over the last four years had created a crisis situation for the country.
Rana Sanaullah says PDM govt take tough measures
The incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) led government has taken tough measures, including increasing taxes and energy prices, to restart a $6.5 billion IMF loan package.
Sanaullah also questioned Khan’s claims of creating 10 million jobs and building five million houses. He said, “Where are the jobs? We do not see any houses.
Tell me one thing those people who were in power for the last four years did.” The PML-N leader added that the party supremo, Nawaz Sharif, would supervise the party’s election campaign and that the PML-N had always taken the country out of the crisis.
Despite pressure from the PTI, the Interior Minister has ruled out early elections in Punjab. The country will hold elections at the appointed time this year, and the PML-N is confident that it will take the country out of the crisis.
