Pervez Khattak sees general elections in Feb 2024

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) chief Pervez Khattak on Saturday asserted the upcoming general elections are likely to be held in February 2024, ARY News reported on Monday.

Talking to journalists in Peshawar, the former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor said that if any political party move court, the elections will be delayed.

Referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Pervez Khattak said that the former prime minister lacked a strategy to address the challenges confronting the nation when he was in power and “used to tell us to lie to such an extent so that it appears to be the truth”.

He claimed that former Inter-Services Intelligences (ISI) chief Faiz Hameed and chief of army staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa had “created an environment for elections, but Imran Khan did not agree”.

Moreover, he said, “I was the one who had brought around 60 per cent of electables in the party (PTI).” He noted that four cases — Toshakhana, cipher, Al-Qadir Trust case and May 9 riots — could present challenges for the PTI chief.

Pervez Khattak further said that Imran Khan wasn’t interested in bringing reforms in Punjab.

Former defence minister Pervez Khattak launched a new political party under the name of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Parliamentarians.

Khattak who was expelled from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), last week, over his statement against the party chief, announced his new political party.

PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan issued the termination letter ‘with reference to the show cause notice’ served to Pervez Khattak last month.

‘Elections likely to be delayed’

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

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

A day earlier, Khawaja Asif stated that there is a possibility of a delay in holding the next 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,” he 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.