General elections likely to be held in Feb 2024: Raja Riaz

ISLAMABAD: Former Opposition leader in National Assembly (NA) Raja Riaz on Saturday asserted that the upcoming general elections would be held in February 2024 – three months later than the constitutionally allowed limit of 90 days, ARY News reported.

Speaking on ARY News programme ‘Sawal Ye Hai’, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissident leader said that he had proposed three names for caretaker premier in meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

However, Raja Riaz mentioned, he and PM Shehbaz agreed on not revealing the other names. “No one knew about the nomination of Anwarul Haq Kakar except Shehbaz Sharif,” he added.

The former opposition leader further said that there were always complaints that Balochistan had been deprived of its rights, which is why the caretaker prime minister was picked from the province.

Terming Kakar a ‘neutral person’, Riaz said that the designated PM does not belong to a major political party and no concerns were raised by any stakeholder.

Responding to a question, he said that the name of former finance minister Ishaq Dar was not mentioned and not even proposed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In response to another question, Raja Riaz said that general elections would be held in February — three months later than the constitutionally allowed limit of 90 days that falls in November.

The statement comes after Balochistan Awami Party Senator Anwaarul Haq Kakar was named the country’s caretaker prime minister.

Who is Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar?

Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar, the nominated new caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, is a political figure from Balochistan and a member of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

Kakar was elected to the Senate in 2018 and has been a very active politician from Balochistan.

Simultaneously, he served as parliamentary leader for the Balochistan Awami Party — formed in 2018 — within the Senate.

Anwarul Haq Kakar also worked as chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and as a member of the Business Advisory Committee, Finance and Revenue, Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology.

‘Elections likely to be delayed’

The upcoming general elections in the country will likely be delayed as the Council of Common Interest (CCI) “unanimously” approved the 2023 census.

Outgoing Federal Ministers Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Rana Sanaullah also hinted at possible delay in holding of general elections.

“I do believe that elections will be held in November. But you asked me if there is a possibility of delay: There is a possibility of a delay but not more than a couple of months on technical grounds,” Khawaja Asif said.

When asked whether the approval of the 2023 census would result in an election delay, Khawaja Asif said: “I cannot speculate at the moment but it is a possibility. I won’t rule that out.”

On the other hand, Rana Sanaullah said that the general elections would be held in the third week of February or the first week of March after new delimitations.

Sanaullah said that fresh delimitation is a constitutional requirement. “The general elections would be held in the third week of February or the first week of March after new delimitations.”

He added that the delimitation process would be completed in December 2023.