ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/Web Desk) – As Senator Dilawar Khan triggered a controversy by tabling and then getting a resolution approved, which called for delaying the general elections scheduled next month on February 8, one of his colleagues from Jamaat-i-Islami has opted to challenge him on the floor of the House.
Senator Mushtaq in his resolution submitted with the Senate Secretariat has called for holding polls according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which, he says, is a constitutional obligation.
Calling for the cancelling the resolution passed on Friday, Mushtaq said the resolution demanding a delay in polls while using weather and law and order situation as excuses was undemocratic and unconstitutional.
The Senate has no authority to go for an unconstitutional act, reads the resolution and adds that the elections must be held on time as per the directions issued by the Supreme Court while providing a level-playing field to all the parties participating in the exercise.
On Friday, the Upper House of the Parliament had passed Senator Dilawar’s resolution with just 14 members attending the session – a move that was rejected by political parties being “unacceptable” and “unconstitutional”
Dilawar was initially awarded a PML-N ticket for the seats reserved for technocrats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, he was elected an independent after the Supreme Court barred the PML-N nominees from contesting the indirect polls on party symbol.
Since then he has mostly, if not always, moved against the PML-N policies, including the Senate chairman polls when late Mir Hasil Bizenjo – the known Baloch nationalist leader who was associated with the National Party – lost against Sadiq Sanjrani on the polling day despite having a large majority.
WON’T ALLOW ESCAPE ELECTIONS
PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said it was three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif who never enjoyed a level-playing field – an obvious reference to how he was kept out of elections in 2002, 2008 and 2018.
Read more: PML-N blasts PTI for backing election delay, says won't allow them to escape ballot
Marriyum blasted the PTI for backing the resolution passed in the Senate a day earlier, which called for postponement of general elections scheduled next month on May 8. Pakistan and the people needed polls, she reaffirmed and added that they won’t allow anyone to run away from elections.
LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE
Separately, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah said his party’s position was clear on the issue and the elections should be held according to the date announced, “nothing more or less”.
Let the people decide their fate; it’s up to them what they want. Either hatred or destruction, a hallmark of IK’s tenure, or prosperity, as witnessed under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif before 2018. https://t.co/js172MbdOc
— Rana Sana Ullah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) January 6, 2024“Let the people decide their fate,” he stressed that adding, “it’s up to them what they want”.
“Either hatred or destruction,” Rana Sana said about the choice the people have – hatred and represented by the PTI founding chairman or prosperity, as witnessed under the leadership of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif before 2018.