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Dates of assemblies’ dissolution, elections to be announced in 7-10 daysLAHORE: Dr Tahirul Qadri and the government team which was behind the ‘Islamabad Long March Declaration’ have announced that assemblies will be dissolved prior to March 16 after which elections will be held within 90 days. During a news conference, Dr Tahirul Qadri said that the dates of the assemblies' dissolution and elections will be announced within 7-10 days.
Dr Qadri was speaking alongside the government team after the two sides met here on Sunday. According to Qadri, the coalition and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) will hold consultations over the caretaker prime minister and chief ministers and a consensus will be reached. Following this, the government and opposition will hold talks about the caretaker setup.
Both sides agreed that 30 days will be allocated for the scrutiny of candidates under article 62 and 63 of the constitution.
Tahirul Qadri further said the two sides were in disagreement over the legality of the Election Commission and seizing funds available to the prime minister and chief ministers as these may be misused during the election process. According to Qadri these funds should be used to decrease electricity and food prices by 50 percent.
The Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran leader also clarified there was no issue regarding the Chief Election Commissioner however the appointment of other Election Commission members were not made according to the constitution. “According to the constitution, the parliamentary committee should summon the candidates for the Election Commission posts in the provinces for a hearing. The four members were confirmed by the parliamentary committee without a hearing,” Qadri said.
Speaking to the media following Qadri, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government was constitutionally bound to not overturn any decision of the parliamentary committee (in references to the legality of the Election Commission’s formation) and that the federal government had no control over the funds of provincial governments.
Repeating Tahirul Qadri's words, Kaira said the assemblies will be wrapped up before the stipulated term of the government and following that the general elections will be organized within the next 90 days.
He said a pre-planned formula for the caretaker set up will be implemented.
The Information Minister said Dr Tahirul Qadri will be given the date of assemblies' dissolution in the next 7 to 10 days.
Courtesy www.geo.tv