LAHORE: Amid apprehensions of further delay in general elections in the country, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Saturday that the polls will be held on February 8 as per schedule even if “they” get resolutions passed from the United Nations (UN) or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The remark came during his press conference in Lahore, wherein he was questioned about the approval of a resolution by the Senate to delay the polls.
Bilawal said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a schedule for the polls on February 8 so the polls will be staged on the same date.
“No matter if [they] get a resolution passed from the Senate, the UN or the OIC, elections will be staged on February 8,” the former foreign minister told reporters.
An independent lawmaker in the Senate moved a resolution seeking deferral of polls in the light of extreme weather and security situation in the country, which was adopted by a majority of 14 senators present in the legislature on Friday.
However, a fresh resolution was tabled in the upper house for the elections’ conduct on February 8 as per schedule.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, in the resolution submitted to the Senate Secretariat on Saturday, pointed out that holding elections is a constitutional requirement.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court was also moved to initiate contempt proceedings against senators involved in passing a resolution in the Senate for polls delay.
