Caretaker govt committed to hold free, fair elections: Solangi

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi on Friday said the interim government was committed to hold free, fair and transparent general elections in the country.

Speaking to a private news channel, the minister said the caretaker government would fulfill its legal and constitutional responsibilities by providing financial and administrative assistance as well as security to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for conducting the elections.

Rejecting rumours about the delay in elections, he said the ECP had already released the final lists of constituencies after completing the delimitation exercise across the country.

Solangi said conditions and environment were conducive to hold the elections in the country. “All political parties will be given 54 days for their election campaign,” he added.

He said the caretaker government wanted the country to be led by its representatives in accordance with the law and constitution. It was clearly stated in the preamble of the Constitution that the country would be run by elected representatives.

On February 8, the people of Pakistan would make their decision that who would lead them, he added. “If any political party faces any injustice, they have the right to file a complaint,” he said, adding all the state institutions were working freely in the country.

To a query, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) freely holding its conventions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “No minister of the caretaker government or any of their close relative would contest the election,” the minister categorically stated.

To another query, he said the caretaker government was mandated to assist the ECP for holding elections in accordance with law and the Constitution.

He said the results of elections would not be monitored by the independent observers only but also by the media which would be playing a crucial role in this regard.

Ruling out any chances of rigging in the upcoming elections, he said over 150 million people with mobile phones in the country were nothing less than a broadcaster.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had issued the final constituency list containing the number of National Assembly (NA) and the Provincial Assembly (PA) seats.

Read More: ECP issues final constituency list

The final constituency list based on the 7th Population and Housing Digital Census 2023 data was issued ahead of the general elections today. There will be 266 NA and 593 PA seats across Pakistan.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had notified general elections on February 8, 2024.

According to details, the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a notification of the date of the general election under Section 57 of the Election Act۔

The notification said that in light of the Supreme Court’s order, the general elections will take place on February 8, 2024.