On Tuesday, the coalition government led by the Leader of the House in the Senate and Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi agreed on holding simultaneous polls under caretaker governments across the country.
However, they failed to reach a consensus on a mutually agreed date for the general elections.
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After the third round of talks, the Finance Minister, accompanied by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Yusuf Raza Gillani, Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar, Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar and Minister for Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema, declared that the consensus on two points was a great positive achievement. Senator Ishaq Dar explained that the first point of consensus was that both parties agreed to hold simultaneous elections across the country under caretaker governments, which was in line with the Election Act 2017 and the Constitution. The second point was that there was no confusion among anyone regarding this issue.
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Dar argued that the backdrop of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the concept of caretaker governments, and simultaneous polls played a significant role in achieving this agreement. He further explained that holding elections in only two provincial assemblies would have killed the concept of free and fair elections, as three representative governments of Sindh, Balochistan, and federal would have been in power while the other two were not.
The third point, which both sides did not agree on, was the date for the general elections to be held on a single day across the country due to different opinions. Senator Dar underlined that there was flexibility on this point, but no consensus was reached. He further stated that the PTI leaders would have to discuss this development with their party leadership, and the government and opposition would have to consider various factors, such as the country’s budget, trade policy, and ongoing IMF review before fixing a date for the general elections.
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Senator Yusuf Raza Gillani remarked that the recent development made by both sides was very positive and proposed ensuring acceptability of the elections’ results from all political parties.
Later, in a separate press conference outside the Parliament House, Shah Mehmood Qureshi suggested dissolving the National Assembly and remaining provincial assemblies on completion of their Parliamentary term, and the PTI delegation proposed dissolving the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Balochistan, and the National Assembly on or before May 14th, with elections held after 60 days under caretaker governments.
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The PTI wanted a written agreement with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that could be submitted to the Supreme Court for endorsement and assurance of its implementation. Qureshi emphasized that the general elections should be held in a transparent environment to ensure that no one had any problem accepting the outcomes.
Although both parties reached closer to an agreement, they could not agree on the dissolution of assemblies and the date for general elections. The PTI delegation included Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, and they decided to present their point of view before the Supreme Court in writing.
