General elections to be held in October: Ahsan Iqbal

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that general elections will be held in October this year.

Iqbal said that the elections would take place after the completion of the population census and subsequent delimitation of the constituencies.

Talking to the media at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) in Jamshoro, he said the census results would be published by April 30.

Following this, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would start the delimitation exercise which will take up to four months to be completed.

He recalled that it was during former prime minister Imran Khan's governance that it was decided that general elections would be held after a new census.

"Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Imran Khan himself had decided in a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in April 2021 that the new elections would be held only after the process of population census," said Iqbal.

He added that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan to lead the party's electoral campaign in the next general elections.

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Punjab by-elections

Given the recent deadlock on appointing the caretaker chief minister in Punjab, the ECP, as per its constitutional mandate, will have to step in. However, elections are to be conducted within 90-days of an Assembly’s dissolution.

The PML-N has not shied away from claiming that it will come into power once again while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remains confident that with the efforts of Imran and incumbent CM Pervaiz Elahi, there will be next to no competition for them come election day.

According to party sources privy to matter, the PML-N will start the ticket allocation process soon and new candidates may be given a chance to challenge the PTI.

Nawaz Sharif and his daughter and party Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz are expected to lay out a game plan.

The Express Tribune learned that Sharif has given clear instructions to all party leaders to launch a hands on door-to-door campaign to stifle the PTI’s popularity.

PTI’s Punjab president, however, is of the view that the public will give a befitting response to the coalition government in the centre by bringing the PTI to power once again.

PML-N leader and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Interior and Legal Affairs Attaullah Tarrar confirmed that “Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz will be with the public soon.”