That there exists the painful state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about the general elections is a fact. Little did, however, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) know that the arrival of the caretakers will cause so much anxiety, confusion and frustration as the quest for holding general elections within 90 days turned into a near impossibility as early as the holding of maiden meeting of federal cabinet of this caretaker setup.
That’s why the PPP is sounding a bit hoarse. One could therefore clearly sense the party’s frustration at not being able to force or persuade the caretakers and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is to ensure fair, free and transparent elections within 90 days.
The party has also raised this demand for timely election in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner. Those who comprised the PPP delegation are said to have told the CEC that the “first and foremost” responsibility of the ECP to not only ensure free and free polls but also their timely conduct.
For this purpose, they argued, the electoral body needs to issue the general elections’ schedule immediately. It is now increasingly clear that almost all political parties have been taken aback by the evolving political situation, which is strongly characterized by ambiguity or lack of clarity insofar as the date or dates for general elections are concerned.
It is quite true that ECP’s approach to the goal or objective of general elections is marked by ambiguity and ambivalence.
Insofar as the response of caretakers to the ‘timely election’ demand or question is concerned, they’re following in the footsteps of ECP obligingly to sheer chagrin of political parties, particularly PPP that has been nursing some legitimate ambitions to win the elections so as to have Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari country’s next prime minister.
It is imperative that PPP realise its Himalayan blunders that it committed in relation to the selection of caretakers and the decision to hold elections on the digital census data basis. Demonstrating a worrying naivety about the current situation is nothing but a weak defence.
Danish Hunarmand (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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