PESHAWAR, Jan 19: Rejecting the opposition's call for early elections, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Thursday said the parties that boycotted the last electoral exercise should wait until the holding of the next one on the completion of the government's fiveyear term in office next year.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted by him for journalists at Bacha Khan Markaz here, the minister said the demand for snap polls was made by the parties, which had no representation in parliament and were in a hurry to be there.
He said the opposition should raise the issue of early elections atparliament, which was the right forum to do so, instead of streets.
Mr Iftikhar said the role of parliament, judiciary and military had clearly been defined in the Constitution and that all institutions were bound by it to function within their respective jurisdictions.
'Parliament has been mandated to legislate, the judiciary to interpret the Constitution and the army to defend the country's borders,' he said, adding that under current circumstances, the army's role was commendable.
The minister said there would be no clash if all institutions functioned within their defined limits.He said his party, Awami National Party, was opposed to clash of institutions and that party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan's resolution in the National Assembly was meant to prevent any such clash.
Mr Iftikhar urged all parties to get together for strengthening democratic norms in the country and said the government should be given the chance to complete five-year constitutional term in office. He advised the opposition against taking steps that might derail democracy.
He said the ground reality was that the Senate elections would be held on schedule.
Without naming names, the minister alleged: 'Some private newschannels show extraordinary generosity while covering Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf's public meetings live. We, too, expect the same generosity from them for the January 26 functions of Baacha Khan and Abdul Wali Khan's death anniversaries,' he said.
Earlier, provincial information secretary ANP Malik Mustafa also complained that by and large, media didn't give due coverage to his party leading to high unrest among its workers.
He said like other parties, ANP, too, deserved due media coverage as it had given great sacrifices for freedom of expression.
ANP leaders, including provin-cial general secretary Arbab Mohammad Tahir Khan Khalil, Hashim Babar, Mian Mushtaq, Hameedur Rehman Mohammadzai, Mian Syed Laig and Malik Mustafa, were also in attendance.
Meanwhile, the provincial working committee ANP on Thursday formed a parliamentary board before naming Senator Afrasayab Khattak its chairman and Arbab Mohammad Tahir Khan secretary.
Later, the board had a meeting in which directions were issued to hopefuls for ANP candidacy in the next elections for submitting applications until February 5 to board secretary in Bacha Khan Markaz.