Opposition’s demand for mid-term polls termed illegal

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has termed the opposition's demand for mid-term elections unconstitutional. He said that the opposition should wait for the 2023 elections instead of making unconstitutional and undemocratic demand as the National Assembly had given the vote of confidence to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the people also stood with the PTI government.

Opposition parties have no choice but to wait for the general election so they must wait patiently, he added. During a meeting with the delegation led by Vice-Chairman of Chief Minister Complaints Cell, Nasir Salman and Haji Muhammad Ramzan Pervez, at Governor’s House on Sunday, Ch Sarwar said that the political opponents had failed earlier and no matter how many plans they made they would not get anything except failure. The opposition's narrative based on anarchy has been rejected on every forum, including the parliament. The opposition should stop resorting to the politics of protest marches and sit-ins, he added.

The governor said that if the opposition wanted to hold a long march from March 26, it had a constitutional and democratic right to do so, but they would not be able to topple the government. He said that the government was ready to face the opposition, adding that there would be no mid-term or short-term elections in the country but the general elections would be held in 2023 as per the Constitution and the people would decide by the power of their vote who they wanted to see in power.

Chaudhry Sarwar lauded the Pakistan Army for its successful operation against terrorists in North Waziristan and said that terrorists were enemies of country's development, peace and stability and 220 million Pakistanis, including the government and security forces, stood united against them. He said that not only terrorists but also their facilitators would be completely eliminated from Pakistan and the country would become a cradle of peace.