DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Central Information Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Faisal Karim Kundi has underlined the need for the Election Commission to announce a cut-off date for general elections to put a permanent end to the uncertainty surrounding the electoral process in the country. He expressed these views while talking to the media at Kundi Model Farm here Friday.
He said that the formal announcement of election schedule and its date was a part of the constitutional procedure, but the ECP had neither given any schedule for the election nor announced its date. Merely announcing the month of January for the election is not enough, he added.
Faisal Karim Kundi said that the People’s Party had always adopted a principled position that elections should be held in accordance with the Constitution and this crucial requirement should be fulfilled by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
He said that the party had also expressed its willingness about the election to be held in 60 days and while respecting the wishes and consultation of the coalition parties, we agreed to hold the election within 90 days, but this constitutional requirement was not being met.
He said that PPP had concerns and reservations on many issues as in case, objections were raised by the people about the delimitation and the matter was taken to the courts of law, even then elections would be held in January.In this regard, he said that the Central Executive Committee of the party would take a decision.
Referring to the ‘level playing field,’ issue, Faisal Karim Kundi highlighted that work on development projects was continuing in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the present caretaker setup and appointments were also being made.
Similarly, the appointment of bureaucracy in Punjab by the colleagues of PML-N on the basis of liking and disliking had raised concerns regarding transparent elections.
He said in the previous CEC meeting, Chairman Asif Ali Zadari was informed about the concerns on the issues pertaining to ‘level playing field’ and he was authorized to look into these issues.
He said that PPP was of the opinion that the solution to Pakistan’s economic and political problems lied in the holding of transparent elections in the country and the power should be transferred to the government that had the votes of the people in the real sense.
