Elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will likely be held in October-November alongside National Assembly polls, as per a unanimous decision by the coalition partners.
Coalition partners are unanimous on holding general elections in the national and provincial assemblies together, probably in October-November this year, Dawn said quoting a ‘reliable source in the federal government’.
Furthermore, it referred to a key meeting between Punjab and KP governors, which was also attended by caretaker Punjab CM, wherein the participants agreed to hold elections together, given the ‘current circumstances’.
The federal government will be completing its term in August this year, and that’s when, they said, the polls should be held.
“Pakistan can’t afford two, separate elections as billions of rupees will be spent on the exercise,” Punjab governor Baligh-ur-Rehman told reporters In Lahore on Monday.
A day earlier, PTI chairman Imran Khan said, “The jail bharo tehreek will come into action if elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa aren’t held within 90 days of dissolving the provincial assemblies.”
Commenting on the remarks, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had said that the government was ready to take the PTI chief into custody as soon as he begins his ‘jail bharo’ tehreek, as announced. Imran had a similar movement in October last year to pressure the government to announce snap polls. Also, during the 2014 sit-in, he had asked his supporters to launch a civil disobedient movement.
He reiterated that not holding polls within the said span would be a violation of the Constitution, saying those doing so will invite the application of the Article 6 upon themselves.
