WORLD NEWS | Pakistan govt and opposition agree to hold same-day elections across the country, date to be determined

ISLAMABAD, May 3 (PTI) Pakistan’s coalition government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party have made “significant progress” after agreeing to hold simultaneous elections under a national caretaker government but failing to agree on a polling date.

The decision by a senior minister came after overnight talks between the government and the main opposition party to end an impasse over the timing of provincial and federal elections, an issue that has dogged politics in the cash-strapped country for months.

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The talks came against a backdrop of controversy with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Movement (PTI) seeking early polls – particularly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, where parliament was dissolved in January – and by Pakistan’s The Muslim League-led government-Nawaz (PML-N) has maintained that the national provincial and federal elections be held on the same day in October.

The third and crucial round of talks between the coalition government and PTI began on Tuesday night over the proposal to hold elections on the same day in the country.

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After the talks, the leader of the House of Representatives and Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue Mohammad Ishaq Dar said in an interview with the media that reaching a consensus on two points was a major positive achievement.

Dahl said there was no confusion between the two sides on holding simultaneous elections across the country under a caretaker government.

He added that there were many things in the background that played a key role, including the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the concept of caretaker government and simultaneous polls for free, fair and transparent elections, without any controversy.

However, he said no consensus had yet been reached on an election date.

“We’ve narrowed down the date … but we haven’t reached an agreement yet,” he said, adding that both sides would consult their leadership on the matter.

He called the consensus to hold a one-day election in the country a “significant development”.

The minister said both sides had shown flexibility and that if they continued to work in good faith to resolve the issue, “phase three (setting an election date) will also be the final phase and will be successful”.

Alongside him, Yousuf Raza Gilani of the PPP said the two sides had also agreed to accept the election results.

The government side included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Yusuf Raza Gilani and Syed Naveed Qamar from the Pakistan People’s Party and other parties in a coalition. in government.

PTI, the main opposition party, sent its vice-president Shah Mahmood Qureshi, senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar for talks.

Meanwhile, briefing the media on the meeting, Qureshi said his party had agreed to the government’s proposal to hold elections on the same day under a caretaker arrangement.

However, he added that no agreement had been reached on the date for the dissolution of the National Assembly, the Sindh and Balochistan provincial assemblies, and the date of elections.

Qureshi said PTI proposed disbanding the rallies by May 14 or before a simultaneous nationwide vote on May 14.

The talks at the Capitol were supposed to start at 11am on Tuesday, but were postponed until 9pm. As both sides announced last week, they will discuss each other’s proposals to end the electoral deadlock.

Earlier, PTI chairman Imran Khan said the government should dissolve all rallies by May 14 to pave the way for elections to be held nationwide on the same day. However, the government is not yet ready to dissolve the rally.

The first round of talks was held on April 27, lasted two hours, and the two sides decided to meet again after consulting their respective party leaders. This was followed by a second round of meetings on April 28, when two meetings were held, at the end of which Dahl said both sides had two proposals that would be presented to their respective leaderships.

The election issue has rocked Pakistani politics, as Khan called for a snap poll when he was voted out last April. Khan used his party’s governments in the two provinces to dissolve the parliaments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in January after he failed to achieve his goals through protests.

However, the cash-strapped federal government has resorted to delaying tactics, citing a lack of funding and rising terrorism to set voting dates for the two provinces while promoting that the election should be held on the same day in the country. The term of the National Assembly ends in August.

The problem started with the Supreme Court, which ordered after hearings that the Punjab state will hold elections on May 14 and that the government should provide Rs 21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan. It has set April 27 as the final date for funding.

The government has not provided funding and has publicly declared defiance of orders to hold elections on May 14.

As the talks began, the Supreme Court said it was prepared to show flexibility on the date of the election if the parties agreed to hold the national election on the same day.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)