Tensions between the PPP and PML-N, former political allies, appeared to escalate. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed his frustration, lamenting that both democracy and the electoral process in the country have been halted to facilitate the return of a single individual.
While speaking at a public gathering commemorating the 16th anniversary of the Karsaz tragedy, outside Bilawal House in Karachi, the PPP chairperson indirectly referred to PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif. He stated that the country’s democracy has been negatively affected by a process he characterized as ‘selection politics’ and emphasized the importance of conducting elections, regardless of the circumstances.
He also vowed to personally advocate for holding elections, regardless of whether others support this stance. Notably, the PPP had previously backed the PML-N administration, which took office in April of the last year following the removal of former premier Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote. August 12 was supposed to mark the end of the PML-N government’s 16-month tenure. However, three days before the National Assembly’s scheduled adjournment, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister at the time, disbanded it.
The constitution stipulates that elections must take place 60 days following the assembly’s conclusion of its term. Nevertheless, the timeframe is increased to ninety days in the event that the assembly is dissolved early. Without mentioning a specific date declared that the polls would be held during the final week of January 2024. Initially, both parties agreed on the 90-day window for the elections to be held. But when the PPP claimed that its erstwhile friends were cozying up to the establishment and plotting to unseat the PPP, tensions flared between them. It was thought that the interim federal government, including former advisers to the Sharif brothers, was taking a similar step.
Furthermore, the subject has taken on further complexity with the recent revelation of Nawaz Sharif’s anticipated arrival date of October 21. In November 2019, Nawaz departed for London, claiming he had health concerns. Despite being granted court permission to travel abroad for a four-week stay, he hasn’t revisited Pakistan during the intervening years. In his speech to the crowd on Wednesday, Bilawal reiterated the call for the announcement of the general election date. “Only when the election commission announces a date for the polls can we accept the [bitter pill] of holding elections in more than 90 days,” he stated. “To enable the return of one person, Pakistan’s democratic procedures, constitution, and electoral functions have been halted.”
The chairman of the PPP expressed that delaying the elections amounted to a form of disrespect for the voting process, referring to the PML-N’s slogan, which emphasizes respect for the act of voting. “We hope that his [Nawaz’s] return [to the country] would be significant, and also that the ECP would soon announce the election schedule.” He demanded that elections be held, arguing that only the people had the right to select their leaders and determine their own course in life. “We have to get over the politics of insults and divisiveness.
We need fresh leadership that is focused on the future rather than being mired in the past. Pakistan in the 1990s and Pakistan in 2017 are not what we want. We want the contemporary Pakistan of 2023.” At a ceremony honoring the 16th anniversary of the Karsaz disaster in Karachi, he declared, “The tenure of the [coalition] government of the last 16 months taught us that Pakistan cannot be run from London.” The PPP leader asked that the average person receive relief instead of the affluent due to the rapidly rising prices and shrinking economic reserves.
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