A date in

The government on Sunday agreed to announce the dates of dissolution of National and provincial assemblies and date for general elections during next seven to 10 days. Talking to reporters after a meeting with the government team, Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said during the talks‚ it was agreed to reaffirm Islamabad Long March Declaration that assemblies would be dissolved before March 16 and elections would be held within 90 days after the dissolution. He said it was also reaffirmed that 30 days would be given for the scrutiny of nomination papers of candidates in the light of Articles 62 and 63, adding that no candidate would be allowed to start his campaign before getting clearance from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding his or her eligibility. He said practical implications and procedures were discussed in the talks. Qadri said that it was also agreed to provide legal cover to the Islamabad Long March Declaration before the dissolution of assemblies. He said that consultation is in progress between the government delegation and his party to form consensus over the formation of interim governments at the federal and provincial levels.
He said appointment of EC members was unconstitutional and they needed to be reappointed according to the constitution. Qadri said his party would approach the Supreme Court if required. He said discretionary funds of the prime minister‚ ministers‚ and chief ministers should be stopped immediately and funds should be allocated for provision of essentials to the people. Subsidy on food items should be given to people and funds should be allocated to bring to an end gas and electricity load shedding. Qadri said he would record protest before the government team over the absence of Law Minister Farooq Naik. He said that it was very depressing that Naik who was the most appropriate person for today’s talks was absent.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the dates for elections and dissolution of assemblies would be announced within 10 days. He said it was agreed that legal cover would be provided to the Islamabad Long March Declaration through legislation. He said a consensus would be developed between the coalition government and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek on names of the caretaker prime minister and chief ministers. However, consensus on the issue of dissolution of the ECP could not be evolved in the dialogue.
“The constitution will be followed for the caretaker setup by developing consensus with the opposition separately,” he added. He said a committee was constituted to discuss the dissolution of the ECP and it had submitted its recommendations to the law minister. “According to the committee’s recommendations, the dissolution of election commission is not possible constitutionally,” he added. Kaira said the caretaker setup would be established according to the law and constitution. To a question, he said the ECP would become active just after the announcement of election date. He said Dr Qadri had objected to the release of funds to the elected representatives. Since parliament exists and several projects are in progress, so technically it is not possible for the PM to stop release of funds right now, he added. Kaira said the federal government could not intervene in the matters of provinces, which were autonomous according to the constitution.