Immediate elections only solution to political turmoil: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Former Planning Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar has reiterated his party’s demand for general elections, saying that immediate polls were the only solution to the current political and economic turmoil, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Speaking on the ARY News program ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’, the former federal minister pointed out that the country’s situation was deteriorating day by day. “From a political point of view, we have an advantage, but the country is suffering,” he added.

Criticising the incumbent government for increasing the prices of petroleum products, he said that the government was blaming PTI to sign an agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The decision to reduce petrol and diesel prices was taken before the no-confidence motion was tabled,” he noted.

Talking about the resignations from National Assembly, Asad Umar said that the PTI had resigned from the lower House of Parliament and the then Deputy Speaker, Qasim Suri, had accepted the resignations.

“The current government is not formed in a democratic way, therefore it cannot be accepted”, the PTI leader maintained. However, he said, the PTI was not going to resign from Punjab Assembly as it will soon form the government in the province.

Asad Umar also criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not issuing a notification of PTI’s reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly, saying that the election watchdog has now become a political party.

He pointed out a survey conducted by Ipsos, saying that two-thirds majority of Pakistanis are in favour of immediate elections. “The government was making legislation only to save itself,” the PTI leader added.

Earlier, a survey conducted by Ipsos stated that a majority of Pakistanis are in favour of immediate elections and have rejected the arguments made by the PML-N-led federal government to justify the increase in fuel prices.

According to the survey, 6 in 10 Pakistanis have rejected the arguments made by the federal government to justify the petrol price hike.

The survey asked whether the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government should complete its full term or should announce mid-term elections? To which, 64 per cent of Pakistanis opined in favour of immediate elections.