The Senate Secretariat has asked the country’s top electoral authority to immediately change the election schedule, a day after the Upper House of Parliament passed a resolution calling for a delay in general elections, a private TV channel reported on Saturday while quoting sources.
The sources added that a copy of the resolution has been sent to the president, interim prime minister, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the law ministry, and other departments concerned.
The non-binding resolution was adopted by the Senate on Friday. It called for the February 8 polls to be delayed, however, an interim minister and parties across the political spectrum rejected it.
“I was not empowered by the federal cabinet to support the resolution. The government is standing behind the Election Commission of holding elections on February 8,” caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Friday.
The resolution, moved by Senator Dilawar Khan from KP, was approved with a majority vote. It argued that the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not suitable for holding elections.
“A resolution of 14 senators based on their personal opinions, has no legal or binding force in the constitutional process of holding general elections,” PTI’s Barrister Gohar Khan said in a post.
At a press conference, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman clarified that the party wanted timely elections.
“Senator Tangi has informed the party that he had opposed the resolution,” she said, “but still, we would look into things like video clips and other evidence to assess the factual situation. If his stance is not found to be satisfactory, then definitely we would seek an explanation from him.”
The PML-N also stated that it wanted no delay in the Feb 8 polls.
“The PML-N’s decision is categorical — polls should be held on Feb 8 according to the schedule of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said on X.
