With the exception of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and APDM, the rest of political parties taking part in the upcoming general elections unanimously condemned the polls postponement till February 18. The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday announced a 40 days delay in the parliamentary elections, which were fixed for January 8.
However, EC officials argued that the polls were being delayed due to violence triggered by the assassination of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Commenting on the EC decision, former federal minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan said the government had taken the right step by rescheduling the polls.
He said the party endorsed the decision, as it would enable candidates of all parties to reach the electorates and fully inform them about their manifestos and future programmes. Makhdoom Javed Hashmi had asked the government to hold the elections as per schedule. Expressing his party's resentment over the more than a month delay, he said the decision was condemnable as, according to him, it was meant to provide more time to the PML-Q.
The Q-League graph, which was already down, had plummeted to zero following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the government wanted to give it more time to improve its image among the masses, opined Hashmi.
To a question he said they had no seat adjustment arrangement with PPP in Multan Khawaja Rizwan Alam, secretary public relations said the government was already involved in pre-poll rigging. However, the killing of Benazir Bhutto further frightened them and they adopted the postponement option to create hurdles in the PPP's march towards success.
Barrister Taj Muhammad Khan condemned the delay in polls and termed it an effort to help out the PML-Q through a 'sham' electoral process. How could the government delay the polls on the pretext of security situation while precedents of Iraq and Afghanistan are before the world, where elections were held despite a warlike situation in the two countries, he questioned.
He said the PSP would not raise objections if the poll delay was restricted to January 25 or 26. However, 40-day postponement revealed the government's intentions to shore up the PML-Q.
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Multan president Rao Muhammad Zafar said they had already informed the people and the parties about the government's intentions. He said it was not clear if the elections would now be held on February 18 or not.