September suits the ruling regime as the party could attempt to get the same assemblies to re-elect President Asif Ali Zardari for another term, says a PPP leader. PHOTO: FILE
Inner circles of the ruling Pakistan People Party are still not convinced that the elections will be held in May with several members indicating that September seems more likely.
A PPP leader who did not want to be named explained why. For one, September suits the ruling regime as the party could attempt to get the same assemblies to re-elect President Asif Ali Zardari for another term. Also, young PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will then be 25 and eligible to contest the polls.
“You will see many things in the coming days,” a key aide to the president cryptically told The Express Tribune. “Some forces are at work.” Indeed, background interviews with the PPP’s second-tier leadership also indicated that they anticipate some major decisions in the next few weeks.
On the surface, however, the ruling coalition that has agreed in principle to dissolve the assemblies by March 14 and hold general elections in May. It has tasked a committee led by Khurshid Shah to win over the main opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), for the schedule.
A PML-N leader confirmed that informal discussions were taking place. PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain also gave reporters the same March 14 date as Khurshid Shah.
“The government team will be finalising legal and political formalities before the president returns from a foreign visit,” a minister who attended the meeting of coalition partners in the Presidency the other night told The Express Tribune. On Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari left for Dubai, where he will have a short stay before heading to the United Kingdom for a two-day trilateral summit on Afghanistan and he is scheduled to return on February 6.
Some others in the government have said the assemblies will be dissolved between March 10 and 14. The National Assembly will be completing its term on March 16. If it is dissolved before March 16, the polls have to be held within 90 days. If it is dissolved on March 16, however, general elections have to be held within 60 days.
And yet other members of the PPP strongly hold stock in the theory that if things get bad, an emergency could be imposed.
Key to the negotiations with the PML-N is the timing of the Punjab Assembly whose term is to expire in April. This means the PPP’s March 14 date doesn’t suit it. As a result, the PML-N wants to bargain with the government over the timing of the dissolution of the assemblies in the caretaker set-up. This presents some difficulty because since 1997, the elections to the national and provincial assemblies have been held on the same day. The election authorities want to continue with this.
PML-N demands
Top of the PML-N’s wish list before agreeing to the dissolution of the assemblies is a change of governors. A private TV channel reported that the party’s long list of demands included the transfer of home secretaries, inspectors general of police and chief secretaries in all the provinces. The party also wants the transfer of the directors-general of the Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency, the federal interior secretary and establishment secretary. Also on the list is the change in top leadership of the state-owned television and radio, the transfer of the Islamabad IG, Special Branch additional IG and federal and provincial information secretaries. The PML-N has made public its six names for caretaker premier.
Law Minister Farooq H Naek will be tackling the formalities of the dissolution of the assemblies.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2013.
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