Have polls not been delayed beyond 90 days before: Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD (Agencies): Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday asked whether elections had not been delayed in the past beyond the 90-day limit under the Constitution. He made the remarks during a joint session of parliament in which the minister argued against holding general and provincial elections separately.

However, he also asserted that the notion the coalition government was “avoiding” polls was “principally wrong” and that it merely wanted them to be held in a transparent manner.

Commenting on the topic of polls, Sanaullah said there were differing opinions on conducting elections, and parliament needed guidance from the government and other institutions in this regard. “Regarding the 90-day limit in the Constitution, I mentioned that April 30 is beyond that timeframe but have elections not been held after 90 or 60 days in the past?” Sanaullah asked.

The minister said that in the 2008 elections, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was dissolved earlier compared to the rest of the provincial legislatures and the National Assembly. “But the KP Assembly election did not take place 30 or 40 days prior.” He said that polls were postponed after former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and took place after almost five months.

The interior minister said the 1988 elections were delayed by five to six months due to flooding in the country. He called for taking decisions with “wisdom and foresight” as the country was facing a “fitna” (mischief) — an apparent reference to PTI chief Imran Khan — that desired chaos. He said free and fair elections were necessary to stop this ‘fitna’, adding that political and economic stability could not be achieved without doing so. “The current situation is such that after dissolving the assemblies, it is a constitutional obligation to hold elections within 90 days. Although April 30 is beyond that mandate and the constitutional condition is not met if elections are held on April 30,” the minister remarked. Sanaullah went on to say that the Constitution also stipulated holding “free and fair” elections, adding that it was the electoral watchdog’s responsibility to do so.

Sanaullah said the notion that the government was “avoiding elections” was “principally wrong”, adding that the government only wanted polls to be held in accordance with the Constitution under a caretaker setup for political and economic stability instead of “creating a new crisis”.

The interior minister argued that if any political party came into power in Punjab, it would “reduce the level playing field” for other parties in the general elections. “Will Punjab not dictate the federal government then? Will that government or party — whether us or someone else — not gain an edge, and won’t the basic constitutional requirement of a free and fair caretaker setup not be violated?” He said that going ahead with polls in Punjab and KP would set a precedent for provincial elections being held six months before general elections, reducing the latter to a “mere spectacle”.

The interior minister said that elections held at the same time under caretaker setups would provide a “level playing field” to everyone. Sanaullah also spoke about Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial’s comments from earlier today wherein he said the top court would intervene if there was any ill intention in holding “transparent elections”.