Backing out of MoU doesn’t suit Imran, says Dar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Sunday said backing out of a written Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had signed with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the polls inquiry, did not suit PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
He said both the parties, while constituting the Judicial Commission (JC), had agreed that in case the commission determined that the election results did not reflect the true mandate of the people, the national and provincial assemblies would be dissolved and fresh general elections would be held. Otherwise, all the PTI’s allegations on the veracity of the election would stand withdrawn.
Talking to a news channel, the minister said Imran Khan’s comments after the report of the commission were ‘disappointing.’ He said accepting the report was binding on both the PTI and PML-N, adding it was unfair to accept and raise objections simultaneously.
Dar said that the PTI chairman would have to mend his ways as he was the leader of a political party, adding that Imran did not stand by the agreement. He said Imran was asking to put the condition of 30 days for the commission to submit its report, but it was the PML-N that convinced the PTI chairman for a 45-day time-frame.
Expressing astonishment, the minister said now Imran Khan was criticising the commission that it disappointed him by not prolonging the time-frame. The government, he said, had constituted a Parliamentary Electoral Reforms Committee last year to bring an improvement in the existing election system, which has so far held 35 meetings.
To a question, Dar said efforts would be made to remove the complaints about the Election Commission of Pakistan, as improving the existing election system was part of the PML-N’s manifesto.