The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that by-elections would be held on all provincial and national assembly seats if PTI decides to quit all the assemblies.
According to the details, an ECP spokesperson told the media that there is no specific law regarding announcing general elections if a certain number of seats are vacated. The by-polls would be held under constitutional procedure if any provincial assembly is vacated.
“We will hold by-elections on the vacant seats if PTI MPAs resign from the assemblies,” the spokesperson said.
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Moreover, the ECP spokesperson also added that holding an election in a provincial constituency costs between Rs50 million to Rs70 million. It is a difficult task to hold by-elections and general elections in the same year but the election body is bound to the law.
He also said that holding elections for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies will cost nearly Rs22 billion.
الیکشن کمیشن رانا ثنااللہ کا ترجمان ادارہ بن چکا ہے؟ نااھل الیکشن کمشنر اور افسران سرکاری خزانے پر بوجھ ہیں صوبائ اسمبلیاں تحلیل ہونے پر نوے دنوں میں انتخابات کرانا الیکشن کمیشن کی ذمہ داری ہے اپنی تیاری کریں بیانات جاری کرنا آپ کا کام نہیں pic.twitter.com/W6v6aAVM5h
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 28, 2022
Imran Khan’s surprise
The former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said he had decided to opt-out of a “corrupt system and quit all assemblies”.
“My party has decided not to remain part of the current political system and will instead resign from all the assemblies,” the PTI chief said in his first in-person address at the mammoth rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Without sharing further details of his decision, Imran Khan said that he would soon be meeting his chief ministers and the parliamentary party about the matter and would soon make the announcement about when the party would leave the assemblies.
Read more: PTI long march: Security increased for Imran Khan’s protection
Earlier today, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry revealed that the party leadership will hold a meeting to decide on the date for dissolving the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and will also finalise a strategy for resigning from the provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan.
With these decisions, 64% of seats in Pakistan will be vacant and will pave the way for general elections,” Fawad Chaudhry had said.