ISLAMABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said that general elections could not be held on the desire of a single person.
Talking to reporters after appearing before Accountability Court judge Muhammad Bashir in the allegedly illegal award of contracts in the Sindh Nooriabad Power Companies (SPNC-I and SPNC-II) case, he said that elections could not be held on the desire of a single person.
“Elections are held in the country according to the methodology given in the law and constitution, he said while responding to a question about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s demand of holding the general elections.
He said that the term of the national and provision assemblies will end in August 2023 and then according to the constitution, elections will be held within two months.
About the PTI’s announcement of the dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said that the power to dissolve the assembly is not the discretionary power of the chief minister.
“I think it would be inappropriate that a former premier should put the whole country in a difficult situation for his own ego,” he said.
Regarding security during the upcoming local government (LG) elections, he said that there will be security issues as conducting LG elections is more difficult than the general elections.
We have already made a request for static force for the security-sensitive polling stations and are framing a comprehensive security plan in this regard, he added.
Earlier, he and the other accused appeared before the court in the illegal award of contracts in the Sindh Nooriabad Power Companies (SPNC-I and SPNC-II) case. The court granted time to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for submitting its reply regarding the acquittal applications filed by the accused.
At the start of the hearing, the NAB prosecutor requested the court to grant it time to present arguments regarding the acquittal application during the next hearing. The defense counsels requested to direct the prosecution to submit its reply regarding the acquittal application.
The judge said that the NAB should first inform the court whether they oppose the application or not. The judge said that both parties will argue over the acquittal applications during the next hearing to be held on January 16.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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