ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque has said that the digital census will continue till March, after which the Election Commission will need four months for de-limitations, so it is quite clear that general elections in the country are not possible before October 2023.

This, he stated while addressing the Internet Governance and Internet Resources Share for Pakistan event organised by Number Resource Society (NRS), here on Wednesday.

The ceremony was also addressed by Lu Heng - Founder and CEO of LARUS Limited, Melvin Cheng - Director Business Development Innovation Service Ltd, Kashif Nawaz - NRS Ambassador and Mohammed Ismail Director Pacific Connect Limited, Muhammad Omar Malik Member Telecom (MOITT), Jahanzeb Director Wireless and other officers and prominent personalities of the IT industry were also present on the occasion.

The federal minister said that, if the former prime minister Imran Khan will cross the redline for political reasons within the scope of the constitution and law, then the country and the nation will suffer.

General elections in October, says minister

Haque said that the political unrest is increasing with each passing day and this political unrest is leading the country to an economic crisis.

As a political party, we want stability in the country. In any case, democracy should remain permanent.

“Law and order should be closely monitored, attempts are being made to destroy law and order in Pakistan in the name of Talibanisation,” he added.

He said that the Ministry of Energy and Power did not contact the Ministry of IT regarding any possible cyber-attack on the power blackout, but the ministry already explained that it was a technical fault.

Haque further said there is a non-binding offer regarding Telenor. The Ministry of IT is looking into all these matters and it is their responsibility to protect the rights of the consumers and there will be no compromise on the employment of the company’s employees and the quality of service.

About Internet Governance, the Federal Minister for IT and Telecom said awareness event on Internet Governance and Internet Resources Share is of great importance for developing economies such as Pakistan.

Minister vows to take up IT industry’s problems with PM soon

As per my understanding, NRS is doing great work in public interest that is distribution of IP addresses, working as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO). It will help raise the voice of countries like Pakistan in the global and regional digital arena as well as in the Internet governance forums.

“We expect NRS like organisations to play its role in the multi-stakeholder process to discuss and contribute towards making a mechanism to address Internet governance issues. NRS can also help us to get right voice from Pakistan in APNIC by supporting Pakistani Candidate so that Pakistan internet community have their voice to get what we need in terms of internet resources like IP v4, IP v6 allocation,” he added.

The IT Ministry is fully cognisant of the significance of internet governance and to this effect, we have already established a specialised vertical on internet governance at the ministry.

Ministry’s IG Strategy builds upon inclusiveness to address new and continuously evolving challenges and opportunities within the Internet Governance landscape.

As you may know, our Country Code Top Level Domain (.pk) is managed by a private entity which is issuing the sub-level domains to our business, government, academia and non-profit, among others, without any governmental regulatory compliance.

He said, they have also done efforts to help 5G initiative that will help to endorse the multi-stakeholder participation as well as input for internet governance at national and international level.

He said it is good news for the IT industry and freelancers that now the State Bank has issued a circular under which the problems related to banking and account maintaining of IT professionals will be eliminated.

“There will be no more obstacles in the delivery of services. The telecom sector currently faces the biggest problems with respect to letters of credit due to which, they have difficulties in importing their equipment.

As a result, plans for upgrading the system and installing new towers are likely to be delayed. In this regard, we have spoken to the finance minister, 50 percent LCs are allowed, and we hope the rest of the issue will be resolved soon,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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Aqeel Feb 02, 2023 08:23am
Everything is possible if constitution is followed! Why Generals do not follow constitution! No time for ML or delaying elections! All over the globe the developed nations never postpone elections no matter what the circumstances are! Down with corrupt ruling elite!
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Texas Feb 02, 2023 11:07am
Should I cry or laugh on his statement?
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Raza syed Feb 02, 2023 11:39am
put this budget allocation on those who were already counted in previous censuses. the country is about to default and we are wasting money on counting people
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