Will 2023 be the year of elections?

“In any parliamentary democracy, early elections are a possibility”

Muhammad Zubair, PML-N Leader

The answer is short and very simple; Yes, 2023 will be the election year. PML-N always maintained that the elections will be held on time. The other political parties, except PTI, have all been against early elections and want the government to complete its tenure.

When the vote of no confidence was moved against Imran Khan in April 2022, only a year and a half remained of the five-year parliamentary period. Obviously, for the coalition government, this was the minimum period in which to take important decisions to put the country back on track. Most important was the economy. With the IMF program in doldrums, the PMLN led government had to renegotiate the terms with the IMF that was key to avoiding a possible default. Pakistan’s external financial situation was precarious, which unfortunately remains the case even today. But overall, things had to be stabilised and that was only possible by bringing the IMF back on board.

Since their ouster in April 2022, PTI has been demanding early elections but it could not achieve its objective. However, as an opposition party it is within their right to demand early elections. In any parliamentary democracy, early elections are a possibility and PTI’s demand is within the constitutional process. However the methods to force the government to dissolve the assemblies and announce early elections were done in a manner which resulted in extreme political instability. First a long march was initiated on May 25th that resulted in chaos and serious turmoil in Islamabad. Imran Khan did not have the numbers to bring a meaningful change. Later for months, Imran Khan continued to threaten another long march which never materialised. That political instability has further compounded the economic instability.

The government is focused on improving the economic situation by providing relief to the masses. For that to happen we need to get the IMF 9th review approved and get the next IMF tranche. That will not only ease the external financial vulnerability but also pave the way for Pakistan to seek financial assistance from other sources. For the economy to improve, the PTI has to lower the political temperature so that economic activity can take place without any hindrance.

Now elections are set for 2023 October. All political parties owe it to the people of Pakistan to ensure free, fair & transparent elections. That will only happen if all political parties agree on basic fundamentals for the elections. These include, 1. Conducive political environment, 2. Reasonable law & order situation throughout the country, 3. An Election Commission which has the trust & confidence of all the political parties, otherwise electoral results will not be accepted and could create a worse situation after the elections, 4. Elections are held on the basis of new census & delimitations.

The period from now till the holding of the next elections should be used by political parties to prepare & plan the many electoral battles that we will see in the next elections. Let’s for once agree on basic fundamentals that will govern the elections now confirmed for October 2023.

“In 2023, there will be free and fair elections and a smooth transition of power”

Qamar Zaman Kaira, PPP Leader

The elections will be held on its scheduled time after the five-year term is completed as snap polls is not a suitable option, given the country’s current situation. The early elections or snap polls have been the consistent demand of former premier Imran Khan, since day one when he was ousted through a vote of no confidence in April 9, 2022.

We have invited him time and again to discuss all the pertinent issues be it the time of elections, how they should be held, what should be the mechanism of the elections etc, but he has continued with his stubbornness and egoistic nature and says that he will only talk to us if the date of elections is given to him. We had also told him time and again that we are ready to meet him and discuss all the issues through dialogue, but there are no pre-conditions for dialogue between political parties in a democratic setup. Since the day Imran Khan was ousted, he has left no stone unturned to destabilise the country, not allowing the federal government to fix the economy which was in shambles due to the poor economic decisions of his government since it shied away from IMF conditions.

It is true that we came with a promise to give relief to the masses and try our best to provide relief, but we haven’t succeeded much on this front as yet. But the federal government is making all-out efforts to save the economy and I am hopeful that in 2023 we will be able to provide some relief to the masses and there will be free and fair elections with a smooth transition of democracy.

Now, some quarters are claiming that a long term technocratic setup is in the offing. Let me tell you categorically that the constitution of Pakistan doesn’t allow that and in the past such experiments had failed too. In 2023, Imran Khan will not be able to dissolve the assemblies and the democratic setup will complete its term and will make sure that the elections are held on a scheduled date.

Some quarters and a section of the media had been giving this impression that snap polls are the only solution to bring stability in the country and if they are held Imran Khan would emerge as an ultimate winner. Let’s assume that Imran Khan Sahib manages to get early elections in 2023 as per his demands, how will that bring stability in the country?

As Imran Khan had said time and again that he doesn’t want a clear majority but a two third majority, otherwise he won’t form the government or come to the assemblies. So, If Imran Khan Sahib fails to get two-third majority, then what stability will such polls bring to the country? Don’t you think he would repeat the same ruckus? What is the point of arranging early elections and spending billions of rupees and spoiling the country’s economy further just for his (Imran’s) adventure?

“We don’t know if the elections will be held in 2023”

Zain Hussain Qureshi, PTI Leader

It is difficult to predict whether the general elections will be held in 2023 or not at this point in time because of the uncertain state of things. The situation may become clearer in the coming few weeks. But given the current bleak picture of the economy, as painted by some of the acclaimed experts like Syed Shabbar Zaidi and others who say that looking at the body language of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) it seems that they don’t want to go in elections at all, we don’t know if the elections will be held in 2023.

Of course the PTI wants early elections but the PDM and the government is shying away from them because it is clearly written on the wall that they will receive a historic defeat at the hands of Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). But being a Democratic party and a politician who strongly believes in a democratic setup, both PTI and Imran Khan will continue their struggle for free and fair elections and will not lose hope, irrespective of the fact that PDM and its leadership are constantly shying away from the elections.

The recent example to support my argument is the postponement of local body elections in Islamabad. Let me remind you that the entire PDM leadership used to say that if Imran Khan is serious about the general elections and actually believes that economic stability will come after that, he should dissolve the KP and Punjab Assemblies and early general elections would be held. But when my leader Imran Khan announced to dissolve the assemblies, it was nothing less than a nightmare or time bomb for the PDM leadership and they retracted their previous statements regarding early general elections and are now making all out efforts effort to stop the dissolution of assemblies.

My Quaid Imran Khan had announced to dissolve the assemblies because economic stability is dependent on political stability and political stability could only come with free and fresh early elections. And then whoever comes to power after the elections will have the mandate of the people and he could take the decisions which could bring the country out of current economic mess.

Some people are spreading the rumours of a long-term technocrat government for two and a half years or something. Let me tell you that PTI will not support that move at all as it strongly believes that such a move would aggravate the problems being faced by the country. We are hopeful that 2023 will be the election year and PTI would emerge victorious with at least a two-third majority so that no allies could blackmail us for personal gains and we could work for the betterment of the country and bring it out of the current turmoil.