PTI to dissolve assemblies on Dec 23

 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Saturday announced that the party will dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on December 23 (Friday).

The former prime minister — during his address via a video link along with Chief Minister Punjab Parvez Elahi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Mehmood Khan — said the decision to "sacrifice" Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies was taken after consultations with lawyers, CMs, senior party leadership.

The PTI chief reiterated his demand for free and fair elections, warning the country might sink otherwise.

"Once we dissolve both the assemblies, we will hold elections in the provinces. Also, our 123-125 National Assembly members — whose resignations have not been accepted — will ask the speaker inside the assembly to accept their resignations," he said.

Following these moves, the ex-premier said as much as 66% of Pakistan would move towards elections and in line with the law, elections should take place within 90 days of the assemblies' dissolution.

He thanked both chief ministers for "sacrificing" their respective governments for the "betterment of the country" and announced that his party would now be starting its election campaign.

Prior to this announcement, reports suggested issues emerged between the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on the date of dissolution; however, the chief minister refuted the rumours and vowed that he would back "all of Imran Khan's decisions".

He also warned the government against employing tactics to delay the elections and said: "I have also spoken to my lawyers [...] it would be against the rules to delay the polls past 90 days."

In response, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira reiterated that the government's stance still stands — elections for assemblies that will be dissolved and by-polls on the constituencies that are vacated.