Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said he finds nothing unconstitutional if the incumbent prime minister has to resign, clearing the way for mid-term elections. Similarly, he said he sees nothing wrong in demanding an audit of last year’s general election.
“If the government thinks the elections were fair, it should not be worried about the vote audit,” Ashraf, who is also the secretary general of PPP, told a news conference on Saturday.
He said the whole country is in a state of chaos due to ongoing protests and sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek which have been going-on for more than 54 days now.
Ashraf insisted that, “those who believe elections were not rigged, they should not be worried in getting the votes recounted.”
Analysts believe that the recent mixed statements from different PPP leaders show that the former ruling party is gradually moving towards mid-term elections.
The former prime minister was of the view that the ball is now in the court of the government which needs to take some concrete measures to end the political stalemate.
He claimed that during the whole episode, PPP has neither sided with protesters nor with the incumbent government. Their party still believes that negotiations were the only way out to resolve the crisis, he concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2014.
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