11
A day after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan called on the premier to hold early elections, his ally Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Senator Sirajul Haq — in apparent disagreement — asserted that the government should be allowed to complete its tenure.
This is our party's stance so far, the JI chief said, stressing the need for a national consensus on the timing of the next General Election. He explained that that it was not a single party's decision to make.
Khan, during a press conference on Sunday, had claimed early elections were "necessary for democracy".
"In order to save and strengthen the democracy, you [PM Shahid Abbasi] should move towards elections," he had demanded. "Seek the people's mandate."
Khan claimed that PML-N ministers had "endangered Pakistan" by suggesting that the country needed to "put its house in order".
He alleged that the government's narrative was similar to the one New Delhi adapted at the United Nations General Assembly last week.
Khan had said that the prime minister was making "irresponsible statements" at a time when Pakistan was facing immense pressure from India and America in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's South Asian policy announcement.
The PTI chief also alleged that PM Abbasi's government was ruining the economy by increasing taxes and making "the poor subsidise the rich".
"Keeping in view the country's internal and external challenges, I demand that the prime minister, on an urgent basis, hold elections and seek a fresh mandate," Khan stressed.
'Insult to the country'
Siraj today also criticised senators for voting against an amendment to the Election Bill 2017 that was proposed by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan on Friday.
The Senate had passed the Election Bill after rejecting a key amendment proposed by the PPP to retain a controversial clause resurrected by retired Gen Pervez Musharraf through the Political Parties Order (PPO) 2002, paving the way for an otherwise ineligible Nawaz Sharif to head his own faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.
Section 5(1) of the PPO, which still holds the field, reads: “Every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan has the right to form or be a member of a political party or be otherwise associated with a political party or take part in political activities or be elected as an office-bearer of a political party.”
The rejected amendment proposed by Ahsan read: “Provided that a person shall not be appointed or serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being, elected or chosen as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) under Article 63 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or under any other law for the time being in force.”
The Election Bill 2017 was passed with a majority vote by the Senate through which the legal bar on a person to serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is either not qualified to be, or disqualified from being, elected as a member of parliament under Article 63 of the Constitution is set to go.
"The government must retract the bill," Siraj demanded. "Allowing a legally disqualified person to become the head of a political party is an insult to our election system and to our country."
