PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: In his recent criticism of his former political leader, Imran Khan, Pervez Khattak, the head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P), accused the PTI chairman of plotting a conspiracy to incite a “revolution” against the Pakistan Army.
During an interaction with journalists, PTI-P Chairman Khattak, accompanied by the party’s vice chairman and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan, made these statements.
Khattak, who established his new political party last month, criticized Khan, asserting that Khan opposed the 18th Amendment.
It’s worth noting that PTI terminated Khattak’s basic party membership on July 12 after he failed to respond to a “show cause notice” urging him to persuade workers to leave PTI. Shortly after, he launched PTI-P.
Khattak revealed, “Azam Khan [former principal secretary] ran the government, and the rest assisted him,” shedding light on the situation.
Discussing the riots and attacks on military establishments on May 9, Khattak stated, “PTI might face a ban.”
These riots erupted across the country following the arrest of the deposed prime minister in a £190 million settlement case. Law enforcement authorities arrested numerous PTI members due to their engagement in the violence and assaults on military installations amid these protests.
Khattak responded to a question, indicating that the establishment had paved the way for elections, but Khan didn’t concur with the idea.
Contrary to Khan’s accusations against the former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Khattak, the former defense minister, commented, “Gen Bajwa supported us [PTI] significantly.”
However, due to the failure of Khan’s leadership to deliver, the former army chief eventually withdrew his support, Khattak added.
In response to another query, the PTI-P chief predicted, “I foresee elections taking place in February 2024.”
Uncertainty over upcoming polls
Following the dissolution of the assemblies, uncertainty looms over the timing of the upcoming polls.
Right before the dissolution of the assemblies, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) granted approval to the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023. This extension aimed to grant the electoral authority a 90-day window for holding elections instead of the usual 60 days, should the legislative bodies complete their constitutional terms.
Nevertheless, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) might face challenges in adhering to the designated timeframe.
Right before the dissolution of the assemblies, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) granted approval to the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023.
Under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the CCI meeting endorsed the final census results, revealing the country’s population to be 241.49 million with a growth rate of 2.55%.
With the CCI’s approval, the ECP became constitutionally obligated to conduct elections based on the new census results, necessitating fresh delimitations.
As per Article 51 (5) of the Constitution, the allocation of National Assembly seats to each province and the federal capital must align with the population data from the most recent officially published census.
Consequently, on August 17, the ECP unveiled a schedule for conducting new delimitations in accordance with the recently approved census by the CCI.
According to this schedule, the notification for the new constituency delimitations will be issued in December of this year.
Projected from the ECP’s timeline, the process of fresh delimitation will span approximately four months, thereby indicating that the general elections cannot be conducted within the initially stipulated 90 days following the dissolution of provincial and national assemblies.
