KARACHI
\nPPP leader Nisar Khuhro said on Monday that the PPP had postponed tomorrow\u2019s (April 25) Sindh-wide protest against piecemeal elections in the country.
\nIn a statement, Khuhro said that the party was postponing its protest in \u201ca show of restraint\u201d.
\nA day earlier, the PPP leader had announced the party\u2019s decision to stage a province-wide protest, saying that Sindh would not let Pakistan be divided into two parts. \u201cSindh will only accept one-day polls, not piecemeal elections,\u201d he had said.
\nThe announcement had come in the backdrop of an impasse regarding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab \u2014 where the provincial assemblies were dissolved earlier this year. While the PTI has been adamant about holding polls in the provincial legislatures, the government maintains its stance on holding polls across the country on the same day.
\nEarlier this month, the Supreme Court (SC) (while hearing a PTI petition) had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. However, the government had rejected the apex court\u2019s orders.
\nAfter repeated back and forth last week, the SC on Thursday afforded a temporary respite to the country\u2019s main political parties, giving them a week to develop a consensus on the date for elections to the provincial and national assemblies, so they could be held simultaneously across the country.
\nIn a statement issued today, Khuhro urged all of the country\u2019s institutions, including the judiciary, to \u201cpay heed to the people\u2019s voice\u201d and hold elections on the same day.
\n\u201cIf attention is not paid to the people\u2019s [demand], a new date for the protest will be announced,\u201d he said, adding that Pakistan could not afford to hold piecemeal polls.
\n\u201cConducting separate polls will ruin Pakistan\u2019s political system,\u201d the PPP leader said, adding that doing so would also raise a question mark regarding the transparency of elections.
\nHe further said that elections conducted on a single day after the completion of the assemblies\u2019 five-year term would strengthen the political system.
\nEarlier this month, the SC had directed the government to provide Rs21 billion to the ECP to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the electoral body to provide a report on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.
\nHowever, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court\u2019s orders and refused to issue the funds.
\nEarlier this month, the electoral watchdog had submitted a report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope.
\nThough the contents of the report are not known, a source privy to the information told Online that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government\u2019s reluctance to issue the Rs21bn needed for the purpose.
\nSubsequently, the court had directed the SBP to release funds worth Rs21bn for elections from Account No I \u2014 a principal component of the Federal Cons-olidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion \u2014 and send an \u201cappropriate communication\u201d to this effect to the finance ministry by April 17.
\nFollowing the top court\u2019s orders, the central bank on April 17 allocsated the funds and sought the finance ministry\u2019s nod to release the amount.
\nThe federal cabinet\u2019s approval was required to release the amount from the FCF, while the government had to get the National Assembly\u2019s approval for its release. However, on April 18 the coalition government managed through the NA the rejection of its own demand for the provision of Rs21bn as a supplementary grant to the ECP for holding polls in the two provinces.
\nLast week, the ECP, defence ministry and finance ministry submitted their respective reports in court.
\nThe ECP report said that the staggering of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not feasible since it involved significant expenditures compared to holding of polls on the same day.
\nIn its report, the defence ministry highlighted the need of holding the elections on the same day given the heightened security situation in the country. It also said that the armed forces would be able to carry out election duties by early October.
\nOn the other hand, the finance ministry said that in the wake of the rejection on part of the National Assembly to a government-sponsored motion to grant Rs21bn to the federal government for meeting expenditures, other than charged, during the financial year ending June 30, 2023, in respect of the ECP for holding the elections in Punjab and KP, it was difficult to sanction the release of the funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI PPP leader Nisar Khuhro said on Monday that the PPP had postponed tomorrow\u2019s (April 25) Sindh-wide protest against piecemeal elections in the country. In a statement, Khuhro said that the party was postponing its protest in \u201ca show of restraint\u201d. A day earlier, the PPP leader had announced the party\u2019s decision to stage a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-327236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n