Page 12 - Pakistan Link - January 20, 2023

P12 - PAKISTAN LINK - JANUARY 20, 2023 PAKISTAN

ECP Gears up for Polls in at that time) held three long marches country did not increase suddenly. governments” in the country, and Aslam Iqbal, Raja Bisharat, and
Punjab and KPK during our tenure and kept criti- “When they slowly returned, we did went on to blame then army chief Hashim Juwan from the treasury
(Continued from page 1) cizing the government but we con- not rehabilitate them, and no one Gen Bajwa and then ISI chief Faiz benches, while Malik Muhammad
It is pertinent to mention that the tinued to progress.” Censuring the paid attention to them. No one spent Hamid as being behind everything. Ahmed Khan, Hassan Murtaza and
country has historically conducted incumbent government for the eco- any money on them which we had His remarks came in the wake Nadeem Kamran will represent the
federal and provincial elections si- nomic crisis in the country, the for- decided. We had feared that if we of a top-level huddle where he and opposition.
multaneously. However, there is mer premier said that Pakistan’s eco- did not pay attention to them then his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, met The names for the committee
room in the constitution for holding nomic conditions were never like the terrorism will start happening ev- with party leaders to discuss strat- were suggested by Chief Minister
separate polls as well. present, emphasizing that fair and erywhere which is happening now.” egy as the possibility of polls in two Elahi and Hamza Shehbaz, the noti-
In its letters, the ECP will sug- transparent polls are the only solu- The PTI Chairman alleged that provinces grows. fication read.
gest three dates to the governors of tion to these problems. “The current “massive foul play” was afoot during The meeting took place amidst As per law, the committee has
Punjab and K-P who then will have government led by Prime Minister the second phase of the Sindh local heightened political activity back three days to reach an accord over a
to come up with a final date for polls, Shehbaz Sharif has come into power government elections, adding that home, with the dissolution of both name for the top spot in Punjab. In
sources said. through horse-trading,” claimed the such “manipulated” polls would only the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkh- case of disagreement, the matter will
Meanwhile, the ECP has also PTI chief. aggravate polarization and anarchy wa Assemblies and the imminent re- be decided by the Election Commis-
whirred into action for rolling out The PTI chief added that the co- in society. turn of Ms Nawaz to Pakistan. sion of Pakistan (ECP).
the electoral arrangements keeping alition rulers have kept themselves In a series of tweets on Wednes- PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
in mind the logistics and require- above the law and ended the corrup- day, Imran said that recent reports Pervaiz Rashid and Javed Latif were (PML-N) had proposed Adviser to
ments. In this regard, the watchdog tion cases that they were booked in regarding the polls had made it ap- also present at the meeting held at the Prime Minister on Establish-
has decided to take the list of DROs years back. “Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz parent that the PPP had “no com- Stanhope House on Thursday, where ment Ahad Cheema and senior jour-
and ROs from the judiciary and the Sharif, Asif Zardari, and Maryam mitment to fair and free elections”. along with the ongoing political situ- nalist Mohsin Naqvi’s names for the
bureaucracy. Nawaz – all of their cases have been “Instead, it uses force, blackmail, ation, Ms Nawaz’s return to Pakistan top slot.
It will also demand lists of elec- forgiven.” police harassment, and money to and the party’s election campaign Meanwhile, the Pakistan Teh-
tion staff for the Punjab elections. Imran said that in a bid to move get votes. Now [it is] also clear why prospects were discussed in the reek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan
The ECP will also write to the towards free and fair elections, his the ECP, its cabal of crooks and their four-hour huddle. Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)
provincial election commissioners party “sacrificed” two assemblies – handlers sabotaged electronic vot- Although it was being specu- nominated Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera,
for the number and details of polling Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Punjab. ing machines (EVMs),” he added. – lated that Mr Sanaullah — who was Naseer Ahmed Khan, and Nasir
staff. Following this, phase-wise train- “Now this government will be forced Daily Times charged with overseeing trust vote Mahmood Khosa for interim chief
ing of the election staff will begin. on holding elections in April.” To a proceedings in the Punjab Assembly minister.
Details of the total number question about the dissolution of US Wants to See Pakistan — had been summoned to London Punjab Governor Baligh Ur
of polling stations and polling Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pun- ‘Economically Sustainable’ to explain the party’s defeat, a source Rehman had on Tuesday directed
booths will also be sought from jab assemblies, Imran said that no (Continued from page 1) privy to the discussion rubbished re- the PA speaker to constitute a par-
both provinces. one in Pakistan dissolves their own gave any suggestions to Pakistan on ports that the senior Sharif was an- liamentary committee to select a
In addition, the election watch- government. “Current government a government-to-government level noyed with the interior minister. caretaker chief minister after the
dog has also arranged phase-wise came into power via ‘auction’ not af- to take some immediate steps which “The meeting took place in a CM and the opposition leader failed
training of the staff about the Result ter elections,” he added. He claimed could improve the economy. very good atmosphere. Mian sb told to reach an agreement.
Management System (RMS). The that the Shehbaz government came “These conversations with our Rana sb ‘we have been waiting for “Consequent to the fact that the
training of election staff was under- into power via horse-trading. “They Pakistani partners often do entail your arrival for four days’. He [MNS] Chef Minister and the Leader of the
way in all four provinces and Islam- bought loyalties by paying Rs200 to technical issues. Oftentimes, these also said in the last few days home- Opposition in the outgoing Provin-
abad, sources revealed. Rs250 million to people. are addressed between the Depart- work has been done and it will be cial Assembly of Punjab have not
Each batch will be trained for two Imran alleged that the former ment of the Treasury and our Paki- presented to you [Sana]. Mian sb said agreed on any person to be appoint-
days, the sources said and added that army chief helped current rulers end stani partners,” Price stated. as president Punjab, Rana sb’s recom- ed as the caretaker chief minister
the RMS would help in the timely deliv- corruption cases worth Rs 1,100 bil- He added that Pakistan’s mac- mendations are key and the party within the stipulated time-frame in
ery of results. - - The Express Tribune lion. “They have sunk the economy. roeconomic stability was a topic of will act on them,” the source said. terms of Article 224(1A) of the Con-
Pakistan has never faced such finan- conversation between the Depart- The source claimed the meet- stitution of the Islamic Republic of
Imran Feels PDM Will Be “Forced to Hold cial issues that it is facing today,” he ment of State and its counterparts, ing was called to discuss the return Pakistan, you are hereby required to
General Elections by April” added. Reiterating his stance, Im- the White House, the Treasury De- of Ms Nawaz and her role as chief fulfil your obligation in the manner
(Continued from page 1) ran said that the only solution to partment, and others. organizer. “Rana sb’s opinion on prescribed in Article 224A(2) of the
Urdu. Blaming former army chief the country’s problems was fair and Earlier, Pakistan and the IMF that program and implementation to Constitution of the Islamic Republic
Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for transparent elections, adding that did not announce a breakthrough in mobilize the party was critical to Ms of Pakistan, under intimation to the
‘helping’ PDM form government, local and foreign investors do not their talks as was evident from the Nawaz’s return.” undersigned,” the summary reads. –
the PTI chief predicted that the gov- trust the incumbent government. fact that no date was announced for When pressed on the party’s The News
ernment will now be “forced to hold “We’re in a quicksand. Holding free the mission’s crucial visit to Islamabad defeat in the vote of confidence at
general elections by April”. and fair elections is the only solution despite both sides terming their first the Punjab Assembly, Mr Sanaullah Pakistan’s Economy Grinding to a Halt
“Someone needs to ask them to avoid a situation similar to that face-to-face meeting in four months attributed it to the “doublespeak” of as Dollars Dry up
why they overthrew our govern- of Sri Lanka. That is the reason we “positive”. – The Express Tribune CM Elahi, who had earlier said he (Continued from page 10)
ment via a conspiracy despite giving dissolved both our governments [in wouldn’t take a vote of confidence or country’s energy shortages, damage
the best performance in the past 17 Punjab and K-P].” Nawaz Takes Stock as PML-N Leaders dissolve the assembly. to cotton crops during the floods,
years. What mistake were we mak- The deposed prime minister Gather in London “We had the numbers and we and a recent hike in taxes.
ing that they brought down our gov- claimed that the establishment tried (Continued from page 1) will show we have the numbers. The The troubles together have led
ernment in collusion with an army its best that PML-Q’s Pervaiz Elahi Nawaz Sharif said “a cruel joke had coming elections will show PML-N to around 30 percent of power looms
chief? They have not been able to become PML-N’s chief minister in been played on Pakistan… for the strength and victory,” he told report- in the city of Faisalabad, the center
handle it (economy) since then,” Punjab. “They tried their best that sake of personal gains”. ers outside the PML-N’s London of the textiles industry, temporarily
he said, adding that the incumbent [Pervaiz Elahi] does not leave the Speaking to reporters after headquarters. shutting down, with the remaining
government came to power through chief minister’s post but he remained meeting with a delegation of senior He said there will be more meet- ones working on alternate days, said
an auction, not through democratic loyal to us and we had to return loy- PML-N leaders from Pakistan, he ings in the coming days, and that the Baba Latif Ansari, head of the Labor
elections. alty from our end as well,” he added. said: “We all discussed the situation party’s election campaign will be Qaumi Movement union.
The PTI chief said that he and The PTI chief admitted that he had in Pakistan. Pakistan will come out kicked off according to the guidance “More than 150,000 workers
former finance minister Shaukat changed his stance over many mat- of this difficult situation, and we will given by their leader. He confirmed who had come from surrounding
Tareen had told Gen (retd) Bajwa ters but said that his opinion about be the ones to take the country out Ms Nawaz will return next week. villages to work here have had to go
that he had created instability to the Taliban remained more or less of it.” When asked about the return of back because of a lack of work in the
make the conspiracy successful, the same over the years. When asked if he held former the senior Sharif, Rana Sana said, “It past few weeks. Others are just sit-
adding that he had predicted the “When rulers in Afghanistan army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed is understood MNS will return, and ting at home hoping the situation
new government will not be able were changed, the Afghan govern- Bajwa and former spymaster Gen he will lead the party’s election cam- improves,” he told AFP.
to manage the economy and he has ment told TTP to return to Paki- Faiz Hamid responsible for the state paign. The legal formalities regard- Some factories have complained
been proved right. stan. Ghani government used to of the country, he said: “The reality ing his return were also discussed. of a backlog of imported raw materi-
“The market soon lost confi- encourage them and they used to is before everyone. Now no name “MNS return is critical as he is als such as dyes, buttons, zippers and
dence in them. They (government) attack us from there (Afghanistan,” or face is hidden. Pakistan was used the leader of the party, he has the spare parts for machinery held up at
were busy with their theft and taking he said. “When this other (Taliban) for personal gain. It was a cruel joke vote and support of the people.” the Karachi port.
NRO-2. Chaos soon began to rise in government came into power, they played on the nation. The interior minister also rub- Abdul Rauf, an importer of
the country. Ask any trader today… told them to go back. So, when they “In my Gujranwala jalsa, I stat- bished reports of rifts between for- grain and pulses, said he has just 25
is it because of us?” he questioned. had to return, what options did ed who was responsible and every- mer PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and days of stock left and without the
Imran said what General (retd) Pakistan have? We had two options. thing was out in the open. It is my the PML-N leadership. “There are no release of dollars, there will be an
Bajwa did to the country in conniv- Either shoot these 40,000 people, responsibility to tell the nation about differences and Mr Abbasi is com- “immense shortage” during the holy
ance with the government, not even warriors and their families or reha- the wrongs committed against the mitted to the party.” - Dawn month of Ramadan, which begins in
the enemies of Pakistan would have bilitate them. All political parties people, and it is my responsibility to March.
done. “See where Pakistan stood agreed on this (rehabilitation) but it make things right.” Committee Constituted to Choose “I’ve never witnessed a situa-
in April [last year] and where it is was not implemented,” he said. Im- At the time, he also questioned Caretaker CM of Punjab tion where people are so worried,”
standing now. They (the opposition ran claimed that extremism in the who was responsible for the “two (Continued from page 1) he told AFP.
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