Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) provincial leaderships in Sindh and Punjab on Monday announced postponing tomorrow’s (April 25) protests in both provinces against piecemeal elections in the country, Aaj News reported.
In a statement, PPP Sindh leader Nisar Khuhro said that the PPP had Sindh-wide protest “against a show of restraint”.
Meanwhile, PPP Central Punjab’s chairman Rana Farooq also announced to postpone the protests of April 25th in the province. He said a new date for the protests would be announced later.
On Sunday, the PPP had announced the party’s decision to stage a province-wide protest, saying that Sindh would not let Pakistan be divided into two parts. “Sindh will only accept one-day polls, not piecemeal elections,” he had said.
The announcement had come in the backdrop of an impasse regarding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab — where the provincial assemblies were dissolved earlier this year. While the PTI has been adamant about holding polls in the provincial legislatures, the government maintains its stance on holding polls across the country on the same day.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections in the Punjab Assembly on May 14. However, the government had rejected the apex court’s orders.
After repeated back and forth last week, the SC on Thursday afforded a temporary respite to the country’s main political parties, giving them a week to develop a consensus on the date for elections to the provincial and national assemblies, so they could be held simultaneously across the country.
In a statement issued today, Khuhro urged all of the country’s institutions, including the judiciary, to “pay heed to the people’s voice” and hold elections on the same day.
“If attention is not paid to the people’s [demand], a new date for the protest will be announced,” he said, adding that Pakistan could not afford to hold piecemeal polls.
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