PTI slams ECP over ‘criminal’ bid to prolong caretaker setup

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Peoples Party Thursday rejected outright the Election Commission’s schedule for carrying out fresh delimitation of the constituencies.

In a statement, the PTI spokesperson said the ECP’s schedule was malicious and a clear deviation from the Constitution and it would be challenged in the Supreme Court on Friday (today).

“In the case of premature dissolution of the National Assembly, the Constitution bluntly obliges the Election Commission to hold elections within ninety days. The Election Commission’s schedule is a criminal attempt to prolong the caretaker government against the intention of the Constitution.

“After violating the Supreme Court’s order on holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Election Commission is once again engaged in efforts to violate the Constitution. In light of the decision of the Council of Common Interests (CII), the new constituencies cannot be used as a justification for escaping the elections,” said the spokesperson.

“Apart from the prime minister, the four elected provincial chief ministers were also part of the Council of Common Interests.

“A major irregularity was committed by making the illegal caretaker chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a part of the decision-making process in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests,” the PTI spokesman added.

“In view of the popularity of Tehreek-e-Insaf and the possibility of worst defeat in the elections, we will resist the conspiracies of depriving the people of their right to vote according to the Constitution,” added the spokesperson.

In its reaction, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made it clear that the elections could not go beyond 90 days as per the Constitution. In a statement, the PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi demanded that elections be held under the Constitution.

Kundi said new constituencies for general elections were not required under the Constitution, but the constitutional requirement was that the general elections should be held within 90 days.