ECP responsible to announce election date: Dastgir
Pakistan
Dastgir fires a fresh salvo at PTI
GUJRANWALA (Dunya News) – Power Minister Khurram Dastgir said on Sunday that it was the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the date for the elections.
Speaking to the media, Mr Dastgir said the date of the elections could not be decided by the court. Expressing his thoughts over holding the negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Mr Dastgir said, "The negotiations can only take place if we all play our role in terms of ensuring that the elections in October will remain transparent and no unconstitutional intervention exists."
Firing a fresh salvo at the PTI, Mr Dastgir said, "If the fascist party of Imran Khan is rejecting the public status of other parties, then negotiations cannot take place with the PTI. Now this is not going to happen: a fascist party causes uproar over not having the two-thirds majority after the elections."
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"Before the negotiations, Imran Khan should have accepted the fact that the incumbent government had bagged 69 percent of the public votes despite rigging in 2018," he claimed.
Mr Dastgir added, "There is a dire need to hold negotiations over the matter of what kind of law amendments are needed. We are ready to introduce legislation in this regard in the parliament,"
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Believing that the next elections will turn out to be "exemplary," Mr Dastgir said, "The masses will exercise their voting power through the ballot box and establish the new government."
"Without respecting each other and admiring the public status, the negotiations cannot move further," Mr Dastgir concluded.