Dissolve KP, Punjab assemblies before demanding early elections, Sanaullah urges Imran

Islamabad: Former prime minister Imran Khan should dissolve Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies as it was a prerequisite of his demand for general elections, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday. 

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he he insisted that the PTI chief would “never prefer early polls” and that “he is making such demands only to discredit the government.”

Sanaullah said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif wanted the country to move towards elections, however, “this man [Imran] is asking for the sacking of chief election commissioner without realising that fact that the CEC cannot be replaced without fulfillment of a required constitutional process.”

“The nomination for the current CEC was proposed by Imran when he was in the government, and now he could only be removed through the consent of judicial council,” he added.

The minister said the ECP chief could not be sacked on mere threats hurled by Imran.

He asked Imran to dissolve the two assemblies if he was “sincere” in his demand for early polls.

The interior minister demanded the ECP to “immediately announce” the verdict in the foreign funding case, which has been reserved for eight weeks.

Sanaullah claimed the PML-N would “sweep” Punjab if elections were held, saying “we will form our government”.

The minister also blamed the PTI government for the current inflation the country was facing. “They signed an agreement with the IMF and we just implemented it.”

Sanaullah said the incumbent government only raised the power tariff and did nothing else that added to the country’s soaring inflation.

“The history will tell that we took the right decisions by saving the country from imminent default.”