Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Sunday vehemently rejected the notion of any delay in the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 2024.
“Holding elections is the responsibility of the Election Commission and the caretaker government will fully assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in this regard,” the minister said while talking to a private television channel in a current affairs programme.
He said the caretaker government was fully prepared for holding free, fair and transparent elections in accordance with the schedule issued by the ECP.
Every political party has a right to express its views and all of them wished to have a level playing field in accordance with their own whims, Murtaza Solangi emphasized.
Both the conditions and environment, he said, were conducive for elections and all political parties were actively engaged in political activities.
To a query, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded transparent election and ironically it did not want democracy within its own party which was reflected from its own intra-party polls that were marred by controversy.
In another TV programme, he said the caretaker government would fulfill its legal and constitutional responsibilities by providing financial and administrative assistance as well as security to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for conducting the elections.
He said the caretaker government wanted that the country was led by its representatives in accordance with the law and constitution. It was clearly stated in the preamble of Constitution that the country would be run by the elected representatives.
On February 8, the people of Pakistan would make their decision that who would lead them, he added.
“If any political party faces any injustice, they have the right to file a complaint,” he said, adding all the state institutions were working freely in the country.
To another query, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf freely holding its conventions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“No minister of the caretaker government or any of their close relative would contest the election,” the minister categorically stated.
Ruling out any chances of rigging in the upcoming elections, he said over 150 million people with mobile phones in the country were nothing less than a broadcaster. He said the European Union had issued its final report on 2018 elections results that detailed irregularities in the polls. The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was established during the tenure of previous government, the minister said, adding the initiative would continue to pay dividends in future. The SIFC had full legal and constitutional cover, he said in response to another query.
