{"id":36338,"date":"2023-12-16T22:34:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T22:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/pti-remains-obstinate-as-other-parties-hail-sc-order-on-polls\/"},"modified":"2023-12-16T22:34:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T22:34:04","slug":"pti-remains-obstinate-as-other-parties-hail-sc-order-on-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pti-remains-obstinate-as-other-parties-hail-sc-order-on-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"PTI remains obstinate as other parties hail SC order on polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LAHORE: Buoyed by the Supreme Court\u2019s decision<\/a>, followed by the announcement<\/a> of the general elections schedule, most political parties on Friday unanimously proclaimed that a \u201cmajor conspiracy to delay the polls\u201d has failed.<\/p>\n

PTI, however, refused to join the celebrations, with party leaders continuing to question the biases of bureaucrats to be appointed as poll officers.<\/p>\n

In a post on X, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif wrote: \u201cThe SC\u2019s landmark decision to ensure Feb 8 polls will strengthen democracy and protect the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Sharif claimed that the apex court foiled PTI\u2019s conspiracy against democracy and the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\n

Repeats concerns over bias of bureaucrats; PML-N, PPP, MQM-P say \u2018bid to delay polls\u2019 foiled<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPTI\u2019s effort to run away from elections failed,\u201d he said, re-emphasising that Imran Khan\u2019s PTI did not want polls.<\/p>\n

Former finance minister and PML-N leader Ishaq Dar said holding polls was ECP\u2019s sole responsibility as the circumstances and the Constitution demanded timely elections.<\/p>\n

Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party Information Secretary Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the verdict has removed \u201call hurdles\u201d in timely elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court has saved democracy and ensured supremacy of the Constitution for which we are thankful for it,\u201d she wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

MQM-P\u2019s Aminul Haq welcomed the decision, saying it has put an end to the uncertainties and speculations surrounding general elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are among those who are already in electioneering mode. We want timely, free and fair elections,\u201d he said while talking to reporters in Karachi.<\/p>\n

PPP Punjab Secretary General Hasan Murtaza also said a major conspiracy to delay polls had been foiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe face of undemocratic forces has been exposed \u2026 Those who wanted to come to power with the help of others did not want elections,\u201d he said, adding only the PPP believed in the electoral pro-cess. \u201cThose who were sabotaging the elections are the enemies of the people of Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the SC order, PPP\u2019s Faisal Karim Kundi, in a press conference<\/a>, said irrespective of the situation, \u201celections must be held on Feb 8\u201d.<\/p>\n

He claimed his party wants elections at any cost while \u201cPMLN and PTI are trying to escape from polls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan, at the moment, cannot afford any other ladla (blue-eyed) person\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement before the SC order, Balochistan Awami Party leaders strongly condemned the PTI for approaching the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the appointment of bureaucrats as presiding and returning officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPTI, a political party, is afraid of elections and is using such tactics for their postponement,\u201d BAP leaders said.<\/p>\n

PTI repeats apprehensions<\/strong><\/p>\n

While expressing its concerns, PTI also demanded the ECP to announce polls\u2019 schedule and allot it the \u2018bat\u2019 symbol.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ECP should immediately announce the elections\u2019 schedule and speed up its preparations to ensure free, fair and transparent general elections on February 8, 2024, in any circumstances,\u201d the PTI said and urged the SC to put a halt on ongoing spree of forcing PTI leaders to change loyalties.<\/p>\n

After the SC\u2019s verdict, a message posted on the X account of PTI\u2019s Punjab chapter said: \u201cA DC [deputy commissioner] which doesn\u2019t allow PTI to hold a convention will now conduct elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an apparently sarcastic tweet, senior PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra wrote: \u201cReturning Officers (ROs) are critical to a #FreeAndFairElection<\/a>. DCs and other DMG officers are servants of the state, politically unbiased, independent, and so must do their jobs fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n

To convey his point, the ex-finance minister of KP attached a video clip of a professional WWE wrestling match, showing Hulk Hogan being \u2018robbed\u2019 of a victory against Andre the Giant by \u2018biased\u2019 referees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill the right RO please stand up?\u201d he wrote, leaving little doubt as to what he meant.<\/p>\n

Another PTI leader, Moonis Elahi, wrote on X: \u201cBureaucracy can\u2019t go to wash-room without permission ..how will it hold free and fair polls? We demand transparent elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syed Irfan Raza in Islamabad, Saleem Shahid in Quetta and Imran Ayub in Karachi also contributed to this report<\/p>\n

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAHORE: Buoyed by the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, followed by the announcement of the general elections schedule, most political parties on Friday unanimously proclaimed that a \u201cmajor conspiracy to delay the polls\u201d has failed. PTI, however, refused to join the celebrations, with party leaders continuing to question the biases of bureaucrats to be appointed as poll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/16095321f61f742.png?r=095338","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}