PML-N fully prepared for elections: Sanaullah

Interior minister wants elections at same time in country

RAWALPINDI:

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has asserted that the general elections should be held across the country at the same time as the date for holding polls is well in demand.

“The PML-N is fully prepared for the elections,” the interior minister said while addressing the party workers' convention on Sunday.

He added that they were not afraid of the elections.

Sanaullah's remarks came hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) excused itself from holding consultations with President Arif Alvi on elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the time being, saying that the matter was already under judicial consideration.

The president on Friday summoned the chief election commissioner for an "urgent meeting" on Monday (today) to hold a consultation on the date of the poll, lambasting him over ECP’s “poignant approach” regarding the general elections date.

On Saturday, the interior minister had also censured the president, asking him to respect his constitutional stature as he had nothing to do with the date for elections.

Firing a fresh salvo at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan over his ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’, Sanaullah said that the government’s response would be “far beyond his imagination”.

According to the interior minister, Imran’s agenda was to push the country towards chaos and anarchy.

“Imran launched the court arrest campaign but on the other hand he hid in a bunker,” the interior minister took a jibe at the PTI leader who had been residing at his Zaman Park house in Lahore.

He said, “Political workers would not be kept in jails. Only those people would be imprisoned who wanted to create anarchy and disorder in the country."

The deposed prime minister, who was removed from power via a no-confidence vote in April last year, wanted to destabilise the country, the federal minister added.

He vowed that Imran would not be given any other opportunity to spread further chaos and anarchy in the country.

Referring to the ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’, the interior minister said that only “Imrani Gang” would be sent to jail who was harming the country.

Turning his guns yet again at Alvi, Sanaullah said that he refused to approve the "mini-budget" ordinance so that the government could not reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Following the president's advice, the coalition government on Feb 15 introduced the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023 or the mini-budget in the National Assembly and Senate as the government sought to fulfil the prerequisites for unlocking the $1.1 billion IMF loan tranche.

Through the mini-budget, the PDM-led government aims to generate Rs55 billion out of the Rs170 billion — in order to meet the conditions laid forth by the IMF.