Election to be held upon completion of govt’s tenure: Tarar responds to Fazl

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that the general election would only be held in 2029 upon completion of the constitutional tenure of the incumbent government.

He made these remarks following JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s presser, demanding fresh elections and rejecting February 8 polls.

Tarar said the Parliament was an appropriate forum to do politics in the current circumstances. “Solution to all the problems in politics lies in negotiations and dialogue,” the minister added.

He termed Maulana a “seasoned” and “respected” politician, urging him to appreciate the government’s economic policies that drove an increase in the foreign exchange reserves, and took the stock exchange to historic highest level.

Earlier in the day, Fazlur Rehman demanded new general elections in Pakistan, rejecting the February 8 polls as ‘unacceptable’.

He claimed that the government has ‘no powers’ to address their concerns and that the elections held on February 8 were not transparent.

The senior politician demanded that the right to vote be restored to the people and fresh elections be held under a transparent system.

Fazl also referred to the US Congress’s recent resolution on Pakistan’s elections, saying that it has raised questions about the legitimacy of the polls. He questioned the passage of such resolution, asking whether this was a diplomatic failure.