The PPP’s top leadership took differing positions on general elections on Saturday, with former president Asif Ali Zardari emphasising that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was bound to conduct fresh delimitation of constituencies and party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asserting that polls should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Zardari’s statement deviates from the PPP’s stance on the elections’ timeframe. The PPP is the only party from the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led erstwhile ruling coalition that has been assertive in calling for not pushing the elections beyond the constitutionally mandated cutoff date of November 9.

Concerns on the poll timing have arisen from the ECP ruling out elections this year. It reasons its decision to push elections beyond November 9 on the basis of the notification of results of the new digital 2023 census and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, which states: “The commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.”

Zardari also stressed the need for delimitation today, saying that the ECP was obligated to conduct the delimitation of constituencies but at the same time called for abiding by the Constitution.

In a statement, the former president said: “The election commission will conduct elections according to the Constitution.”

He added that the ECP was obligated to undertake fresh delimitations following the census. “We have complete confidence in the chief election commissioner and the [ECP’s] members,” Zardari said.

Zardari also highlighted the urgency for the caretaker government to swiftly execute Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) projects in order to set the nation on a trajectory of development.

About the prevailing economic crisis, he called on political parties to prioritise the economy over politics. “We all exist as long as the country exists.”

Bilawal reiterates 90-day limit

Later, Bilawal was asked about Zardari’s statement, to which he said he was “bound to [former] president Zardari’s directives in family matters” but “as far as political and Constitutional matters and the party policy were concerned”, he was bound to the “party workers’ and the central executive committee’s (CEC’s) decisions”.

Speaking to reporters in Badin, he recalled that during the CEC meeting last month, it had been emphasised that the polls should be held within the 90-day period, in line with the Constitution.

Stating that the party’s CEC meeting was chaired by him and Zardari, the former foreign minister said, “In the PPP CEC meeting, we deliberated upon these two opinions — on the one hand, the matter of 90 days that is written in the Constitution (or prioritising fresh delimitation).

“In that meeting, all PPP legal experts told us that according to the Constitution, the elections should be held within 90 days [of the NA’s dissolution].”

He also announced that he would be heading to Lahore, where another meeting of the party’s CEC would be held and anyone having a different view opinion could voice their opinion there.

The PPP chairman also emphasised the need to solve the current economic crises “instead of continuing on with the politics of allegations, hatred and divisions”.

Bilawal stressed that the country needed a “young leadership” to solve the current issues and difficulties it was facing.

“For a new Pakistan — the challenges and issues that are facing us — the PPP is the only choice that can not only face those difficulties but also take care of the people.”

When asked about the caretaker government’s role, he said: “If power prices can be reduced, if the Dollar rate can be reduced, if the petrol price can be reduced, if the issues of the Pakistani people can be ended, then neither us nor the entire nation will have any objections to the caretakers doing their magic.”

However, Bilawal went on to state that in his opinion, the country faced such a large number of issues that “they could not be solved so quickly and even if there was to be a solution, only the elected representatives of the Pakistani public can come up with the solution”.

“We have no objection to the caretakers if they don’t become chair-takers. If they do become chair-takers, then we will have objections,” he said.