Asif Ali Zardari announced that his party – Pakistan People’s Party – would contest the general polls “on their own”…reports Asian Lite News
Former President and the co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, Asif Ali Zardari, ruled out the possibility of seat adjustment with any political party in the 2024 general elections, ARY News reported on Tuesday.
His remarks came during a meeting with the party’s Punjab province leadership in Lahore, which was focused on the PPP’s strategy for the upcoming elections.
He announced that his party would contest the general polls “on their own”, adding that the PPP was receiving multiple requests for party tickets from every constituency, vowing to award tickets to the “strongest candidate”.
Earlier, it was reported that PPP leadership decided not to make seat adjustments with PML-N in the upcoming general election and termed it a ‘loss trade’.
ARY News reported, citing PPP sources, that the seat adjustment with PML-N is a ‘loss trade’ as the failure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) tenure will fall on PML-N in the upcoming general elections.
All political parties are gearing up for the upcoming general elections, scheduled to be held in February 2024, interviewing candidates and strategising their policies.
Recently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the final constituency list including the number of National Assembly (NA) and Provincial Assembly (PA) seats.
The ECP spokesperson said in a statement that two special tribunals wrapped up 1,324 objections to the delimitations. There will be 266 NA and 593 PA seats across Pakistan, ARY News reported.
In the National Assembly, Balochistan has a total of 20 seats, including 16 general and four reserved seats for women; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 45 general seats and 10 reserved seats for women; Sindh has a total of 75 NA seats and of these, 61 are general and remaining 14 are reserved for women; while in Punjab there are 141 general seats and 32 seats reserved for women.
According to ARY News, the federal capital has three general seats in the National Assembly with no reserved seats for women.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified that the general elections would be held on February 8, next year.
The poll panel issued a notification on the date of the general election under Section 57 of the Election Act.
Bilawal to Nawaz: Ideology Over Administration
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif to contest elections based “on an ideology” and not with “the help of administration.”
Addressing a press conference in Quetta on Saturday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, “Mian Sahib, respect the vote, don’t disrespect the vote.” He made the statement when asked a question about PML-N supremo.
He said some people have a “misconception that political winds are in their favour.” He added that Raiwind is “attempting unsuccessfully to change the direction of the winds in its favour”.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, “We [PPP] are trying to be the ladlas of the public. We believe people change the direction of winds. Everyone has to accept people’s mandate when they make a decision.”
He said that PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were engaging in “politics of hate” and called for talks with Chaman protesters. He said PTI and PML-N were out for the politics of revenge. PPP chairman stressed that election campaigns that were carried out in 2018 will not be in upcoming polls.
In the press conference, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, “If God forbid either PML-N or PTI comes to power after the February 8 general elections, they will destroy the country and people through their politics of revenge.”
He called for bringing an ending to the politics of hatred and revenge. He said, “We should move towards reconciliation, and decisions should be made with consensus.”
He noted, “Now, it is impossible to do the same as in the 2018 elections when Pakistan was told this is [Imran] Khan. He is your saviour. You have to support him [because] all the rest [parties] are rubbish.”
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Afghanistan to “behave like a state, instead of a group” and interact with the world to improve its affairs. He said, “Afghanistan must demonstrate that the enemy of Pakistan is undoubtedly the enemy of Afghanistan.”
Asked about the forced expulsion of Afghan refugees, the PPP chairman called it a complex matter and emphasised that Pakistan’s caretaker government “should have consulted all relevant stakeholders” on the matter.
He also spoke about the situation in Chaman where residents have opposed the new visa policy on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He stated that the government should speak to protesters and find a solution to the problem and said that the issue cannot be resolved by giving them media coverage. (ANI)
Poll Panel Seeks Army Deployment in Elections
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) requested Pakistan’s caretaker government to deploy the army and civil armed forces at polling stations during the upcoming general elections on February 8 next year, The Express Tribune reported.
According to the daily, the secretary of the poll panel, Oman Hamid Khan, wrote to the caretaker regime, disclosing a shortfall of 267,558 security personnel required for the effective conduct of general elections.
The commission, noting the necessary deployment for election purposes, provided details sourced from the inspector generals of police to provinces and Islamabad.
The Express Tribune reported that the most populous province, Punjab, currently has 108,500 police officials in contrast to the required 277,610 security personnel.
Similarly, Sindh, the second-largest province, boasts 105,000 police personnel against the necessary 123,500 security officers, the daily stated in its report.
The provinces of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), facing constant threats of terror attacks and recent incidents targeting security personnel and civilians, are also grappling with a shortage of security forces, according to the poll body.
Balochistan reports 18,150 police officers compared to the required 31,919 security personnel, while K-P has 93,260 police officers against the recommended strength of 149,077 security officers, The Express Tribune reported.
Further, the capital city, Islamabad, has 4,500 police officers available against the stipulated requirement of 9,000 security staff, the daily reported. (ANI)