Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that general elections in 2023 will take place on time and the government is aiming to complete the census and compile results before it.
Speaking to a delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, he stated that polls will take place in August or September 2023 and “holding elections on time will strengthen democracy.”
The PM said all reservations related to the census have been resolved and teams will now move to complete it as soon as possible. The elections will be conducted as per the results of the latest census, he said.
He was of the view that upcoming assembly elections in Punjab and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa will have consequences for Pakistan “but I have given go ahead for it and we are with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)”.
Talking about the economy, he stated that the threat of default on Pakistan had ended.
“I admit that we had to accept harsh conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which imposed a burden on the common man,” he said. “The government launched an austerity drive to aid the nation and there has been progress on it. We will implement it in true spirit.”
On Tuesday, PM Shehbaz said the staff-level agreement with IMF would be reached in the next few days as the government had accepted even the “toughest” conditions laid down by the global financial institution.
He said joint efforts were being made by both his economic team and other national institutions to make the process a success.
He said at the time of assuming government, he did not know that his predecessor Imran Khan had agreed on harsh conditions with the IMF which he later violated to undermine Pakistan’s reputation.
Commenting on the police operation at Zaman Park in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan, he said that one person was defying all institutions and using illness as an excuse to skip court hearings.
