Elections likely to take place in February next year: Punjab governor

Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman said Saturday that the elections will likely be held in February next year due to the approval of the new census, Aaj News reported.

"It is a constitutional requirement to carry out delimitation after the passing of a new census, Delimitation process takes four months while the elections process needs 54 days for which the ECP requires two months," he stated in an interview with Shaukat Piracha of Aaj News in Lahore.

Talking about the May 9 riots, the Punjab governor added that all political parties should be allowed to voice their opinions and protest, but assaulting public and private properties will not be accepted.

“Pakistan went through an unprecedented time from 2018 to 2022," he said, adding "the so-called 'tabdeeli' will affect this country for years.”

He said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has the right to fix the date of the election in consultation with the president.

However, he refused to comment on President Arif Alvi’s letter to the ECP for the fixation of an election date.

“It is not appropriate for me to comment on the situation arising out of the president’s recent actions,” Rehman said.

He recalled that Pervez Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab, had declined to accept a vote of confidence because he had deemed his order to be illegitimate and unconstitutional.

“When he[Elahi] was sure of his numbers, he took the vote and wrote to me that he carried out his constitutional duty as per my order,” Rehman stated.

According to the governor of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz of the PML-N will resume her political career before the election and take part in the campaign.