Pakistan Reader# 444, 3 December 2022
Joel Jacob
On 2 December, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal asked the PTI to make a positive U-turn and return to parliament as he stated that early elections could not be held in the country as the floods had played havoc in three provinces, adding in the best interest of the country and its people, PTI should rejoin the assembles and wait for the elections, which will be held when the present government completed its constitutionally-mandated tenure.
Response to PTI’s move to dissolve the assemblies
PML-N has refused to move from their stand that the next general elections will be held as per schedule in October 2023 after the talks with Imran Khan. According to Dawn, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the ruling PML-N leaders and decided that moving a no-confidence motion against the present provincial governments of Punjab and KP will not be a good move. The meeting did not see negotiations with PTI but decided that the next general elections would be held on time.
According to Rana Sanaullah, if Imran Khan dissolved the assemblies, the government would respond to the move as it’s the constitutional right reserved for the government that is getting dissolved. He said the government would condemn if the PTI attempted to dissolve assemblies as it would still be an ‘undemocratic action’ even if it would favour his party. He said the PTI would itself be responsible if it dissolved Punjab and KP assemblies.
PTI's dissolution plans
On 2 December, according to special assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information Barrister, Mohammad Ali Saif said the Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi was uncertain about his course of action after Imran Khan announced that his party would quit the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. The final decision about the Punjab assembly was to be taken by Elahi. The PTI and its allies were considering whether to dissolve KP and Punjab assemblies together or separately. Imran Khan formed a committee representing KP and Punjab to decide when and how to dissolve assemblies. According to Saif, the committee will decide the outcome of the dissolution of the assemblies and said the move will force the federal government to announce an early election. (Nasir Ahmed Khan, “Elahi wants KP Assembly’s dissolution before Punjab’s: Barrister Saif,” Dawn, 3 December 2022; Muqaddam Khan, “Ahsan asks Tehreek-i-Insaf to make ‘positive U-turn’ and return to NA,” Dawn, 3 December 2022; Syed Irfan Raza, “Unmoved by PTI offer, PML-N adamant polls ‘on time’,” Dawn, 3 December 2022)
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