Pakistan PM says elections to be held on time

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. (AP)

• PM says a government of public representatives only could address the public issues
• Election commission has imported ballot paper from UK, France containing special security features

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Saturday that general elections will be held on time and urged people to ignore rumors regarding possible delay of the polls.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Pakistan’s premier high-tech deep water container port in Karachi, he said the government was striving to ensure smooth conduct of free and fair elections.
“A government of public representatives could address public issues,” he said. “People should ignore rumors (about elections delay) being spread out through media.”
The prime minister also clarified that his party, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, never became part of any undemocratic initiative, nor would it in the future.
The constitution has defined limits of every institution to ensure smooth functioning of the state organs, he said, adding that his party has introduced a model of politics focused at unprecedented public service and the future governments should follow it.
On the other hand, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is already working hard to complete all the prerequisites to ensure that general elections are held within the time period stipulated in the constitution.
The election commission is bound to hold general elections of National Assembly and all four provincial assemblies within 60 days of their dissolution.
Altaf Ahmad Khan, a spokesman for the ECP, also rubbished the rumors of any delay in the general elections, saying the election commission is working day and night to complete all the prerequisites for elections under the Elections Act 2017.
“There is no reason for any delay in the elections,” he told Arab News. “All the propaganda regarding the elections delay is useless as we are committed to hold elections on time as per the constitution.”
Listing preparations for the elections, he said the process of delimitations of constituencies of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies has been completed while electoral rolls are also being finalized.
Khan said the enlistment of political parties with the ECP was almost complete and all political parties contesting the 2018 general elections were asked to file an application for their desired party symbol from May 15.
About transparency of the polls, he said the ECP had imported ballot paper from the United Kingdom and France that contained special security features such as watermark, and nobody would be able to print duplicate ballot papers.
He said the ECP had also tasked the National Database and Registration Authority to develop a special software that would help scrutinize nomination papers of the candidates with help of other institutions such as State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue and Federal Investigation Agency.
The five-year term of the present government will expire on May 31 and a caretaker setup will be in place on June 1 for the next 60 days to hold general elections.
Under the constitution, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah are empowered to mutually nominate a person for the slot of caretaker prime minister.
Khursheed Shah told the media on Friday that a consensus candidate for the caretaker prime minister’s slot had been finalized and his name would be announced on May 15.