Govt, PTI or establishment: Who is creating hurdles in fresh elections?

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the establishment have apparently been on the same page for starting talks for fresh elections, however, there are still some hurdles in making progress on political settlements.

President Arif Alvi said that all eyes are on elections to strengthen the mandate of the political government. He said that all the political leaders who are in the government had favoured that elections should be held soon, and the political leadership outside the government, that is, Imran Khan also talking about early elections.

During the crisis, all institutions and political parties had agreed, in different ways and through different statements, that the election should be held before its designated time.

On the question of a way out of the prevailing political crisis, President Alvi said that negotiations should be started as the nation also needs clear leadership.

Major progress made on Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan

Talking about the efforts of the current government amid flood situation, the president said, “This government is working hard, but I think that we need good technocrats and technical support. I think that important matters should not delayed and given priorities instead working on them at the same time.”

“There is a gap of a few months between the election being held on its designated time and before it. There should be a dialogue to fill the gap of a few months. My doors are also open for that and I think that this is the best option to build consensus among the nationals.

Analysts says that the establishment and PTI are seemingly on the same page for fresh polls and agree on finding a solution for ending the political confrontations.

They added that PTI was willing to hold elections after November and an extension to the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, however, the top leaders of the ruling parties, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari have shown disagreement on the option of early polls.

It emerged that Nawaz Sharif was arguing about the unfulfilled promise for his return to the country, on the other hand, Zardari was willing to dissolve cases against him. They said that PML-N has gained nothing after coming into power neither Sharif’s return nor getting popular among the masses.

Analysts said that for Zardari, cases are being dissolved at a slow pace but not completely. On the other hand, Zardari was also reluctant to go to the fresh election phase due to the poor performance of his government in Sindh, especially after flood disasters.

The analysts said that the establishment was facing a new challenge but not from Imran Khan this time. They added that the only hurdle left in the fresh polls is convincing the currently ruling parties, PML-N and PPP, for going into the election phase.