Ahsan Iqbal, the minister for planning, development, and special initiatives, stated that holding elections based on the findings of the most recent census would make it impossible to meet the 90-day timetable. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a significant member of the ruling coalition, has made it clear that they will not permit polls based on outdated enumerations, which has put the coalition government in a pickle and raised questions about timely elections. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) disagreed with the MQM-P and declared that the digital census will not be notified due to numerous legal obstacles.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif surprised everyone when he said the elections would be held on the basis of the latest census exercise.
This sudden change of mind left everyone looking for the reasons behind the new development.
“….I have already stated that if the new census is approved, then the 90-day limit would be exceeded,” the planning minister.
Defending his stance, the minister mentioned that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will have to begin a fresh delimitation based on the new census — and that will take a few months.
“If we want to enter the 90-day cycle, then we will have to agree to holding the elections based on the old census,” the federal planning minister said.
On the staging of polls, the minister said the ECP is responsible for announcing the dates, not the government — after the election law was tweaked to empower the commission.
Once the government’s term ends, a caretaker prime minister will be appointed till new rulers are elected.
The planning minister said the assemblies will be dissolved prematurely and two to three days before the government’s term ends, the name of the caretaker prime minister will be finalised.
“You will see, God willing, the process will be done with consensus.”
Sources, meanwhile, told that the coalition partners would hold the final round of talks over the appointment of the caretaker premier today.
“The parties will exchange names of their respective candidates,” the sources said, mentioning that after finalising the names with the partners, PM Shehbaz will consult Raja Riaz, the opposition leader in the National Assembly.
