Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Sunday said that the election to the Punjab Assembly would not be held on May 14— a date fixed by the Supreme Court — come what may.
Sanaullah addressed a gathering in Faisalabad, where he spoke about the current political situation in the country, saying that elections will be held simultaneously across the country.
Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Sanaullah said that this ‘evil’ was imposed on the country through a conspiracy and his policies destroyed the national economy. He claimed that the prices of essential commodities like flour, sugar and petrol were low at the end of the PML-N government in 2018.
It should be noted that on April 4, the apex court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the election to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. The SC had given the decision after nullifying the ECP’s earlier order to delay it to October 8 from April 30.
The court had directed the federal government to issue Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10. But the ruling alliance failed to release the amount amid the “economic situation”, prompting the SC to order the State Bank of Pakistan to release Rs21 billion by Monday (tomorrow) from the Federal Consolidated Fund for holding much-delayed elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The interior minister further said that the establishment also admitted its mistake and wants to atone for the damage.
He also spoke about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement and the difficult decisions that had to be made to save the country from default.
He reiterated that the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who is currently offering Umrah with his family, would return to Pakistan when the election would be near. Sharif would lead the election campaign, he added.
