Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Webinfosys's Local News : No schedule yet for elections: Pakistan govt

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's government said on Tuesday that it had not yet decided on the schedule for elections under a state of emergency, amid international pressure for them to be held in January as planned.

But Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said the government wanted to respect the constitutional provisions which dictate the timeframe for the parliamentary elections as closely as possible.

"There is an emergency in the country at the moment, the constitution is held in abeyance and there has been no decision on the schedule of the elections yet," Azeem told reporters.

His comments came after state media quoted Premier Shaukat Aziz as saying the elections would be held "according to the schedule" and a spokesman quoted Musharraf as saying they would be "as close as possible to the schedule".

"No schedule has yet been given. We would like to stay as close as possible to the timeline provided in the constitution that says that once the assemblies complete their tenure or are dissolved then the next elections should be in 60 days," Azeem said.

The national parliament and provincial assemblies' current term expires on November 15, but officials say that under the state of emergency parliament is able to postpone its dissolution by up to one year.

Azeem also denied that Pakistan's attorney general had said that the assemblies would be dissolved on November 15 and the elections would be held before the Muslim holy month of Moharram, due to start by mid-January.

Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum made the comments to reporters and other media outlets on Monday night. He was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday morning.




Back To Index Page

No comments: