According to Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the upcoming provincial elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be postponed due to the current economic crisis and fragile security situation in the country.
Rehman criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to grant General Pervez Musharraf three years to hold elections in the past as well as other recent decisions made by the judiciary regarding the elections. Additionally, he charged the judiciary with taking suo motu notice and declaring a 4-3 decision when they actually thought it was a 3-2 decision.
Rehman expressed doubts about the police and other institutions’ ability to guarantee election security. He emphasized that the Ministry of Defense had declined to provide security for the elections for the KP and Punjab assemblies as well as the by-elections for seats in the National Assembly. The judiciary was also hesitant to assign its magistrates to serve as returning officers during the elections.
Rehman claimed that retired Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed, the former head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Mian Saqib Nisar, the former chief justice of Pakistan, were still advocating for Prime Minister Imran Khan. He urged the relevant organizations to be aware of their involvement.
Rehman also attributed Imran Khan’s role in the nation’s current economic woes to the fact that the government was unable to give the needy access to bread while the appropriate authorities demanded Rs 80 billion to print ballots.
He made it clear that choices regarding the election process had to be made after considering all factors, including the state of law and order and price increases.
He alleged that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was in charge of creating Pakistan’s budget and regulating prices, was causing problems. He claimed that the IMF was putting obstacles in the way of friendly nations that wanted to aid Pakistan during this trying time. He questioned why Pakistan was the region’s most frequently targeted nation by the IMF.
While the governor of KP has yet to set a date for the elections in the province, President Arif Alvi has announced April 30 as the date for the elections in Punjab in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Rehman asked legal professionals to weigh in on why two judges’ perspectives were taken into account when determining the verdict, despite the fact that their opinions were mentioned in the verdict.
