JI, GDA leaders see Punjab, KP under longer caretaker rule

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Abdul Akbar Chitrali and GDA’s Saira Bano believe the caretaker governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) would continue beyond their stipulated tenures.

Speaking in the Geo News programme Capital Talk, hosted by Hamid Mir, Chitrali said the JI demanded same-day elections to the national and provincial assemblies.

He said there are reports that while the caretaker governments in Punjab and KP would continue and legislation would extend the National Assembly’s tenure by six months.

He said the National Assembly speaker should not have hastened to accept the PTI members’ resignations and should have allowed them to enter the assembly.

GDA’s Saira Bano criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the size of his cabinet, and advised him to curtail its size and privileges before taxing the masses. She also thought the caretaker setup would stay for a long time.

Speaking in the programme, Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir Khan said there was no room for extending the assemblies’ tenure by six months. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) needed billions of rupees to hold elections in the two provinces.

He said that the assemblies should complete their five-year period. General elections should be held on time, he added.

Conducting early elections can cost billions of rupees to the exchequer, he said, adding that Pakistan’s economic condition was not stable due to heavy floods and relief operation. “Imran’s negative policies can harm this country in future.” He said that the incumbent government was engaged in relief and rehabilitation works carried out in different parts of Pakistan. He said heavy rains and floods played havoc in three provinces of Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan and Sindh.

“The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) will participate in the [provincial] elections and win the maximum seats with the full support of people,” he said.