Elections won't be held on May 14 come what may: Sanaullah

Says elections across country will be held concurrently under caretaker setup this year n Nawaz Sharif will lead election campaign n PML-N will pull country out of crisis n Condition of common man will improve soon and country will progress.

FAISALABAD    -   Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed on Sunday that elections would not be held on May 14 come what may. Addressing an 'Iftar Din­ner' hosted by a PML-N leader Ghu­lam Mustafa Bhatti at Sitara Colony here on Sunday, the interior minis­ter said elections would be conduct­ed under supervision of caretaker setup in the whole country concur­rently during this year. However, the PML-N workers and activists should be ready for general elections wheth­er it would be held in May or October.

PML-N Supremo Nawaz Shar­if would come back when election process would start in the country and he would lead the election cam­paign, he added. "If elections are not held in May, then October is not too far away either." The PTI had dis­solved the Punjab and Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa (KP) assemblies on Janu­ary 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition to hold early general elections.

Calling former prime minister Im­ran Khan a ‘fitna’ (chaos), Sanaul­lah said that he had been brought to power through a "conspiracy".

“Their [PTI’s] policies over four years created a crisis situ­ation for the country.”

Sanaullah said Khan used to claim that he would prefer to die by suicide instead of ap­proaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “It was [Imran Khan’s] government that signed the agreement with the IMF, not us. The difficulties are only due to the previous government’s agreement.” The incumbent government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Move­ment (PDM), has taken tough measures including increasing taxes and energy prices, and al­lowing its currency to weaken to restart a $6.5 billion IMF loan package. The funds will offer some relief to a nation still reel­ing from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a reces­sion ahead of elections this year.

Load-shedding and terror­ism had been eradicated during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) tenure, the federal minister said, adding that due to the PTI’s “wrong” policies, the country is now fac­ing multiple crises.

He also questioned what hap­pened to Khan’s claim of creat­ing 10 million jobs and build­ing five million houses. “Where are the jobs? We do not see any houses. Tell me one thing those people who were in power for the last four years did.”

Sanaullah further said, “The condition of the common man will improve soon and the coun­try will progress.”

The senior PML-N leader also said that party supremo Nawaz Sharif would reach the coun­try as soon as electoral prepa­rations began, adding that he would supervise the party’s election campaign.

“The PML-N has always taken the country out of the crisis,” he added.

Sanaullah hoped that the Pa­kistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would pull the country out of prevailing economic and other crises.

He said that whenever, the na­tion posed confidence in PML-N, it delivered a lot even during odd situation too.

The minister said that the PML-N was a time-tested polit­ical party and the people should repose confidence in it during upcoming general elections to overcome the present economic as well as political turmoil.

Elaborating, he said that In­dia had made five atomic ex­plosions in 1998 after which its minister LK Advani said that Pa­kistan should learn how to talk with India. The entire nation was worried but PML-N Supre­mo Nawaz Sharif who was the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time conducted six atom­ic explosions in response of five explosions of India to equalize power balance in the region.

Similarly, electricity load shedding couple with terrorists’ activities was rampant in the country in 2013 but PML-N gov­ernment under dynamic lead­ership of Nawaz Sharif over­came the situation and put the country on road to progress and prosperity, he added.

Comparing prices of essen­tial commodities and petroleum product, he recalled that flour was available at Rs.35 per kilo­gram (kg) while petrol was at Rs.65 per liter. The people were leading their lives honorably in 2018 when PML-N government was removed and an incompe­tent person was clamped under a deep-rooted conspiracy.

He said that PML-N had de­livered a lot to the nation in the shape of construction roads, motorways, hospitals, educa­tional institutions, etc. whenev­er it came into power but the in­competent ruler (Imran Khan) only befooled the people during his four-year tenure through his hollow slogans of 10 million jobs and 5 million houses.

The present inflation and price spiral were also outcome of the deal made by his govern­ment with International Mone­tary Fund (IMF) on harsh con­ditions, he said, adding that the coalition government tried its optimum to save the coun­try from default and it also suc­ceeded in this goal.

He said, “People of my constit­uency elected me five times for provincial assembly seat. Three times I remained MPA but on opposition side. However, two time PML-N succeeded in es­tablishing Punjab government in 2007 and 2013 and during this period I completed a num­ber of development projects in my constituency to provide all urban facilities to the residents of this area including a state-of-the-art General Hospital, two women colleges, communi­ty center, construction of roads and streets”.

“Later, my constituency was divided into three parts in 2018 only to defeat me but the people elected me for National Assem­bly Seat instead of provincial as­sembly seat due to service de­livery”, he added.

A large number of PML-N leaders, activists, workers and notables of the area were also present.