Govt’s tenure to end on August 14, says PM Shehbaz Sharif

The current government’s tenure will culminate on August 14, 2023, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce the date for the next elections, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated on Wednesday.

While addressing an event in Islamabad today,  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the prevailing uncertainty regarding the timing of the polls.

He stated, “I assure you that our government will end on August 14, and whenever elections happen, the ECP will announce it, and I hope that whichever government comes prioritizes education.”

Addressing the launch ceremony of the ‘Pakistan Education Endowment Fund’ and National Curriculum Reforms in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said that today is a very happy day for him. “We are here, we started this journey from Punjab in 2008, the world has developed only through education.'” he said.

He said that on the advice of Dr. Amjad Saqib, he had established an endowment fund in 2008 and at that time had allocated 2 billion rupees and had given educational services to more than 4 lakh highly capable, hardworking, and intelligent students. Later, he became a doctor, engineer, and other fields, and thousands of poor students completed their education with these scholarships.

The remarks from the prime minister come a day after his meeting with the chief of the ruling alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, wherein the latter stressed the need for the dissolution of assemblies and holding of general elections on time.

A day earlier, it was reported that the key ruling coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday proposed to the federal government to dissolve the national and all the provincial assemblies on August 8.

On the other hand, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar categorically stated that there would be no extension in the term of the National Assembly.

Talking to journalists, the minister said that they were committed to holding free and fair general elections.

“There are many minor flaws in the Election Act,” he said, adding that a parliamentary committee was reviewing the proposal of the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development (Pildat), and different political parties.