ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Interior and Legal Affairs (SAPM) Attaullah Tarar on Monday said that elections should be held in the country as per schedule after fulfilling all legal formalities.
Speaking here at a press conference, he said that two provincial assemblies were dissolved prematurely to satisfy a person’s ego.
SAPM said that establishing care taker government is constitutional requirement for conduct of general elections and there are different stakeholders including Ministries of Interior and Finance and others in this process which should be consulted for conduct of elections.
He said that Article 224 of the Constitution is related to time of election and all the constitutional formalities should be fulfilled for conduct of elections. “ It is a legal discussion and should be conducted at appropriate forum,” he maintained.
Attaullah Tarar said that four judges recused themselves from hearing the case related to the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. He said that two judges separated themselves from the nine-member larger bench and two others expressed their reservations over it and their valid points should be answered.
He said that remaining five judges in the bench would decide about the maintainability and jurisdiction of the case as two higher courts had been already hearing the similar cases before suo motu.
He said economic condition does not allow the country to hold elections separately and a huge amount of money is required to conduct elections in two provinces. He said that budget was not earmarked in this fiscal year for conduct of elections and separate allocation would be made for it in upcoming fiscal year.
Attaullah Tarar said that Imran Khan would be ultimately indicted in Toshakhana case as he sold out state gifts worth billion of rupees in nexus of his spouse, Farah Gogi and Ahsan Jamil Gujjar. “A gang of four minted money after selling state gifts and through posting and transfers,” he said.
He said that Imran Khan would have to be accountable in Parliament attack case and to answer for his wrongdoings. A medical report, he said, had been submitted with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and it has been stated that Imran Khan would appear before it with certain precautionary measures.” The doctor advising him to adopt precautionary measures for this hearing should remember that why such measures were not adopted in long march and travel in helicopter for addressing people,” he added.
On the question of the Rajanpur by-election, he said that the PML-N secured around 50,000 votes in it while PPPP candidate obtained almost 20,000 votes. In 2018 elections, PML-N did not contest election from this constituency while it scored very well during this by-election despite the fact that PTI achieved sympathy vote after demise of his ex-MNA from there.
Tarar said Imran Khan had destroyed the economy of the country during his three-and-a-half-year tenure. He vowed that the incumbent government came into power to save the country from bankruptcy, expressing confidence the derailed national economy would be back on the right track soon.
To a question, he said the PML-N had left a prosperous Pakistan in 2018, with reducing 18-hour long load-shedding and completing several projects. However, the PTI’s inapt government ruined the national economy during its three-and-a-half-year tenure, he added. He said that PTI leaders have been arrested during `jail bharo Tehreek’ but now they are raising hue and cry for release.
