In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, former Prime Minister Imran Khan alleged that the Pakistani government is willing to violate the constitution in order to prevent national elections from taking place later this year. Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, claimed that the government is petrified of losing the upcoming elections and is running scared.
Khan's remarks come after nearly a year of political drama, which began when he lost a confidence vote in parliament and was subsequently thrown out of power. Following his removal, Khan and his PTI party launched a nationwide campaign demanding immediate general elections, which the government repeatedly rejected.
To put pressure on the government, Khan orchestrated the dissolution of two provincial assemblies his party controlled – Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His gambit was clear: since Pakistan traditionally holds both the national and provincial elections together, the dissolution of the assemblies in the two provinces would force the government to call snap polls. However, this did not happen, creating a constitutional crisis which even saw the Supreme Court intervene.
Pakistan's constitution mandates that elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of a legislative assembly. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan, which initially announced April 30 polls in Punjab, moved it to October, forcing PTI to approach the top court.
Khan said, "When I decided to dissolve my two assemblies, we got top lawyers in the country. We all looked at the constitution and each one of them said that the moment you dissolve assemblies, elections will have to be held within 90 days. It is unambiguous."
Khan's PTI party received a major boost on Tuesday when the Supreme Court ordered the government to hold snap assembly polls in Punjab province – Pakistan's most populated – on May 14.
However, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah denied the government was running away from holding elections. He added that the polls were being held in a "controversial manner" and could be "destructive" for the country. "It is being said that maybe we are afraid of the election. We have always contested elections and [we] came to power by the power of the vote. We were never selected," he said.
Khan alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan is totally controlled by the government and that the election commissioner had no constitutional right to prolong the elections. He said, "The election commission is totally controlled by the government, as [was] obvious in the Supreme Court."
Khan said he is willing to talk to his opponents in the government only if the agenda is holding the elections. "We have said always that one thing we are willing to talk about is elections. We are willing to talk about the modalities, the day, everything about the election, of course. But then what else is there to talk about? I mean, right now, the only issue in Pakistan is of elections," he said.
Khan's allegations have sparked a fresh round of political debate in Pakistan, with many calling for an end to the government's alleged attempts to subvert the electoral process. With national elections looming on the horizon, the situation in Pakistan remains tense and uncertain. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to the Supreme Court's order and whether elections will be held in a free and fair manner.
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