'General elections may be held in December'

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah claimed on Wednesday that the general elections might be held in December.

Khursheed Shah, while talking to the media, claimed that there are strong possibilities of general elections in January or February 2024. He added that the elections might be held in December.

He said that the charter of democracy should be credited which restricted everyone to not flee from elections. Shah said that it is an unfortunate fact that the country saw martial laws for 40 years.

Related: PPP to ‘adopt’ Bilawal’s policy over election date

He added that PPP has never stepped back from his principle stance of democracy and faced difficult times for the rule of democracy.

Khursheed Shah was of the view that the current situation of the country is favourable for elections. He demanded to provide level playing field for all political parties.

Shah said that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is still ruling the country and demands will also be tabled before it. “PML-N top leaders are part of caretaker federal cabinet including Touqeer Shah, Ahad Cheema and Fawad Hasan Fawad.”

He criticised that bureaucracy was reshuffled only in Sindh but not in Punjab. The development projects were only banned in Sindh but not in Punjab.

Related: PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi launches tirade against PPP

Shah reiterated that the caretaker government is not authorised to stop work on development projects.

Khursheed Shah warned PML-N leaders to refrain from launching tirades against PPP, otherwise, the politics would return to the 80s era.

He also criticised Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for blaming PPP leaders. Shah claimed that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had favoured the no-confidence motion but he retracted from his stance.

Election schedule

Yesterday, it emerged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is likely to announce the schedule of general elections this month.

According to sources, the ECP decided to end the uncertainty around the announcement of the election schedule and consider issuing the election schedule before the allotted time.

Sources said that the election date is likely to be held in the last week of January 2024 according to the expected election schedule.

Furthermore, the proposed election schedule has been forwarded to the Election Commission of Pakistan.