Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said that general elections would be held after the completion of the constitutional term of the coalition government.
“The elections will not be held on mere predictions, rather they will be held after the completion of the constitutional term (of the coalition government),” she said in a news statement while reacting to Imran Khan’s remarks about snap polls.
Earlier in the day, a private television channel reported that the PTI chief had predicted that general elections would be held either in March or April 2023.
Responding to Imran Khan’s claim regarding a deal between a political party and an institution, the minister said that it was he who “wanted to seal a deal by offering a lifetime extension to General Bajwa.”
She said it was Imran Khan who wanted a “deal” from the FIA.
Marriyum alleged that Imran Khan managed to seal a deal with the former NAB chairman by abducting Tayyaba Gul in the Prime Minister’s House.
She said that the masses were suffering due to poor policies of the previous PTI government even after the ouster of Imran Khan. “Imran Khan pushed the country into an economic quagmire during his four-year rule, which was marred by corruption, bad governance and incompetency,” she added.
The minister said Imran Khan lost the trust of the masses by making false promises of generating 10 million jobs. “He did hurt their sentiments by making a compromise on the Kashmir cause,” she added.
Separately, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Faisal Karim Kundi said Imran Khan has once again backed away from his decision of dissolving assemblies.
“Imran Khan had earlier announced that he would dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on Friday but once again he backed away from his stance,” he said during a presser on Saturday.
Kundi said that Imran Khan had been declared a certified thief for always resorting to lies and deceit.
He said that the Pakistan People’s Party would adopt a democratic way to pursue the no-confidence motion against Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi.
Expressing concern over the worsening law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the SAPM said that the chief executive and KP Police were showing a lack of concern on the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The SAPM said the provincial government should have resigned due to poor law and order situation.
Kundi also criticized the passage of bill allowing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government officials to use official helicopters and said that no helicopter was available for shifting the injured from Bannu.
The SAPM criticized Imran Khan for leveling false allegations against Bilawal Bhutto. “Bilawal has not taken any funds from the government exchequer for foreign visits.”
To a question, he said that the present government had inherited economy in a very bad state due to ineffective policies of the PTI-led government.
The incumbent government, he said, is striving hard to stabilize economy. “It is a difficult task but we have taken this challenge to put the economy on right track.”
To another question about any intentions to arrest PTI chairman, Faisal Kundi said that the PPP does not believe in political victimization. “He (Imran) will only be arrested on court’s orders.”
