Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has strongly reacted to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) announcement of postponing the elections in the Punjab assembly, saying that the commission violated the constitution.
In a tweet, Imran Khan said that by postponing the Punjab elections till October, the ECP has committed an open deviation from the constitution, adding that this is a serious attack on the constitution.
“We dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in the hope that elections would be held within 90 days. This step was not taken so that fascist groups could play with the constitution,” Khan added.
Imran Khan said that remaining silent in Pakistan is equivalent to ending the supremacy of the constitution and law in the country. It is the need of the hour that the Pakistani nation should stand with the judiciary and legal fraternity.
اکتوبر تک پنجاب کےانتخابات ملتوی کرکےECP آئین سےکھلےانحراف کا مرتکب ہواہے۔آج ہر کسی کو اِس امید کےساتھ کہ یہ دستور کا تحفّظ کریں گے،عدلیہ اور قانونی برادری کی پُشت پرکھڑا ہوناہوگا۔کیونکہ آئین پر یہ سنگین حملہ اگر آج قبول کرلیاجاتاہےتو پاکستان میں قانون کی حکمرانی کا خون
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 22, 2023
It is pertinent to mention here that, on Wednesday, the ECP issued an official order postponing the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 30. Now the elections in Punjab are scheduled to be conducted on October 8.
According to the notification issued by the ECP, IG Punjab informed them about the poor situation of law and order in the country while referring to the incidents of terrorism and said that it will take approximately five months to complete the operation against the terrorists. Moreover, there is a shortage of 3,86,623 personnel in Punjab, he informed.
Speaking about the Punjab Assembly elections in the joint parliamentary session held yesterday evening, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the elections of the national and provincial assemblies in the country will be held on the same day. If the elections in Punjab are held earlier, the elections for the National Assembly will not be conducted in a fair manner, he added. He further said that the April 30 date for the Punjab election is also outside the constitutional period of 90 days.
