Imran says ruling coalition using negotiations to delay general elections in Pak

Islamabad: Pakistan's ruling coalition is using the pretence of dialogue with the opposition to delay general elections and the government has not yet formally reached out to his party for talks, former premier Imran Khan has said.

In an interview with the ARY news channel, Khan, chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is yet to approach his party for negotiations.

"No one from the PDM has formally approached us yet," Khan said.

"I fear they are using these negotiations to delay elections. They are just buying time so that elections can be delayed beyond October," he said.

Last week, the Supreme Court asked all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections to the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies expeditiously.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led PDM coalition rejected the apex court order, saying that talks with the PTI party could not be held under the court's watch.

"I fear they are using these negotiations to delay elections. They are just buying time so that elections can be delayed beyond October," Khan was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

The National Assembly will complete its five-year term in August this year. According to the Constitution, elections shall be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the lower house. This means that the election must be held by mid-October. The last general election was held in July 2018.

Khan has been pushing for snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provinces where his PTI ruled till recently. The PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling PDM coalition in Islamabad to hold early general elections in the

country.