Proposed schedule: ‘Polls in May, two months after NA dissolution’

Election contenders will have only 60 days to campaign; PPP tells orders mobilising resources for a big win.

ISLAMABAD:

Senior cadre of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have been told that the National Assembly will be dissolved along with the provincial assemblies in the first week of March and general elections will be called exactly two months later in May.

At a recent meeting, the party’s top leadership shared the schedule for dissolving assemblies and holding general elections with the core committee and office bearers, the Express Investigation Cell (EIC) has learnt.

The proposed schedule for the dissolution of assemblies, coupled with the appointment of a caretaker set-up, indicates that poll contenders will have only 60 days to campaign.



Under the Constitution, a caretaker set-up installed following the dissolution of legislative assemblies must hold elections within 90 days.

Pro-democracy supporters say the completion of a five-year constitutional term is a great victory for the PPP regime. But they point out that this success is marred by bad governance that has torn through key public sector institutions such as PIA, Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel.

A source close to the PPP said that party leaders have asked their office bearers as well as key organisers to brace themselves for a crackerjack election. These officials have been advised to use every possible option to mobilise voters to ensure that the party obtains the maximum number of seats.

“Money will matter more than anything in the forthcoming elections so make arrangements to run your election campaign affectively,” the party’s executive body and core committee members were told in the meeting.

The mandate of the federal and provincial governments will expire on March 18. Over the last few weeks, the PPP-led coalition government has indicated that it will stay in power till the last day of its tenure.

Just two weeks ago, the government resisted Dr Tahirul Qadri’s demand for the early dissolution of assemblies and putting in place an independent caretaker set-up for holding fair, free and transparent general elections.

The PPP does not want to shorten its rule even by a few weeks. Yet at the same time its leadership feels that holding elections beyond May could somewhat diminish its popularity. It would then run into another hazard: unannounced load-shedding in summer months, a time when the electorate is likely to be unforgiving.

The ruling party is also mindful of the fact that it is leaving the corridors of power amid a flurry of corruption charges. Instead of finding long-term solutions to power outages, the government opted for ad hoc arrangements like calling for two weekly offs and closure of commercial markets after the sunset to keep its sailing during its entire period.

These ad hoc arrangements helped the PPP stay in power for five years, but it may have a toll on the party and its allies in the next elections. Aware of these problems, the party aims to contest in the elections in May this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2013.