KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Central Executive Council (CEC) on Monday decided that the current assemblies must complete its stipulated term and the coalition government should continue.
The CEC hybrid meeting was held in Bilawal House Karachi in which PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari participated and reviewed the political situation. The party meeting decided that Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will reach Lahore to meet Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
In the meeting, the PPP decided that the next general polls will be held at its scheduled time after the election reforms in the House. The CEC reviewed the by-elections of Punjab in detail and decided that the federal government should complete its term.
Earlier, the PPP leader and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held a press conference and ensured that his party would continue its support to allied parties. Gilani also said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has lost on its five seats in the by-elections of Punjab.
Later, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon told media that the PPP would continue to support the coalition parties, a day after the shock defeat suffered by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the crucial Punjab by-polls.
“We will not leave the coalition parties in any difficult circumstances and the PPP will continue to stand by its allies,” the provincial information minister said while talking to media persons after a meeting of the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Karachi.
He added that the PPP had always chosen the path of struggle and that it had faced similar circumstances in the past.
The PPP stalwart also announced that the party will ensure its presence in the crucial huddle scheduled in Lahore tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the outcome of the Punjab by-elections.
According to the minister, the incumbent parliament will complete its term and take decisions on matters such as electoral reforms and constitutional amendments.
“The participants of the meeting also demand Imran Khan to apologise to the Election Commission of Pakistan for his attempts to make the authority controversial.”
The fact is that the ECP remained impartial during the process of the by-elections in Punjab, he added.
“Imran Khan should also apologise to the nation and to Mr X and Y for his stance all along that they wouldn’t let him win the by-polls.”
“This man has been constantly lying to the nation and misguiding them about state institutions,” Memon said.
‘General elections only way out’
Meanwhile, PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the coalition government has lost the support of the masses, a day after the defeat in the crucial Punjab by-elections.
“From day one, I was of the stance that the government should announce a schedule for general elections instead of taking the reins of power,” Khokhar said in a statement.
He added that it was clear from the results of the by-polls that the coalition government had lost the support of the masses.
The senator opined that a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be inked by a government with a fresh mandate.
“Critical decisions should be taken by a government that enjoys a five-year mandate,” he added.
According to the Khokhar, it isn’t possible to be “adorned with flowers with the inflation touching new heights.”
He went on to say that the political parties are still stuck in the politics of 1990s, terming the ratio of youth in the population, curbing corruption and anti-establishment narrative as the essential element of today’s politics.
The senator predicted yesterday’s election results will further lessen political stability and make governance difficult.
“The country and its economy need stability which is only possible through general elections.”
