Imran wants to gain sympathy from Taliban govt, TTP by issuing statement on Afghanistan-related issues: Murtaza Solangi.

ISLAMABAD  -  Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi Sunday reiterated that upcoming general elections will take place on Feb­ruary 8, next year in the country.

Murtaza Solangi also said that the intense political rhetoric in the country was a testament to the conduct of the election on a date announced by the electoral watchdog. 

“With the will of the Almighty, the elections will take place on Thursday, February 8, 2024,” said the minister while talking to a pri­vate media channel on a TV talk show. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would issue the general election schedule, he said, adding all political parties would be given 54 days under the con­stitution and law for electioneer­ing. To a query, he said the courts were dispensing justice to every­one despite questions raised by a handful of people. Accountability should be done across the board, the minister said.

“The history suggests that some of the governments could not complete its democratic terms,” he said, adding the case hearing for former prime minis­ter Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has been scheduled after four decades. To another query, he said the care­taker government was bound to implement the orders of the apex court. 

PTI officials, in the past, had emphasised the need for the return of illegal immigrants to their countries, Solangi recalled. “It seems that the former chief of PTI indirectly wants to gain sympathy from both the Taliban government and the TTP, if so, it would be extremely regrettable,” he said while reacting to the for­mer PTI chairman’s statement on Afghan-related issues.

“Public broadcasters oper­ate on public support,” he said while underlining the need for carrying reforms in these insti­tutions of public importance. He said there was a need to upgrade technology in these institutions.

Rumours of their privati­sation were “baseless”, he added. The minister ruled out privatization of the Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan. To an­other query, he said Paki­stan and United States bi­lateral relations had seen a lot of improvement. “China is our strategic partner, and our relations with China will strengthen further,” he remarked. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) categori­cally denied the issuance of any schedule for the up­coming general elections. A spokesman of ECP, strongly denied a news item pub­lished in a section of the press (not The Nation) is unfounded and having no basis. The spokesperson clarified that the schedule circulating on social me­dia is fraud. The Election Commission spokesperson noted that false information about the election is con­sistently appearing in both print and electronic media. He said pay attention only to statements from the of­ficial spokesperson of the Election Commission and disregard any others claim­ing to be from the Commis­sion. Applications filed in the Commission underwent no consultations, clarified the spokesperson. Addi­tionally, such statements should not be construed as policy declarations of the Election Commission, as per the spokesperson.