The economic crisis in the country of Pakistan has left its Finance Ministry with no funds to even conduct the elections, said Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. The statement was issued by Defence Minister Asif and the Information Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, at a joint news conference on Friday.
Talking about the impending elections, which were postponed from April 30 to October 8, the Minister explained that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed them due to the deteriorating security situation and difficult economic conditions in the nation. “Since February, in the last one month or couple of months, the security situation has definitely deteriorated,” he admitted.
“I am aware of the fact that the ministry of finance has said that under the present circumstances, we are going through some very tough times, so we won’t be able to provide funds for these elections,” Asif said while talking about lack of funds for elections.
Reportedly, the polls might get hampered not only due to money constraints but also security issues in Pakistan. Asif noted that another significant problem would be the absence of adequate security that may be used at voting places. “The commitment that our army has at the moment for the internal and external threats, they’ve said that it takes almost a month for the deployment of forces to the polling stations, especially the static duty, they have to take over the polling stations,” he said.
Khawaja Asif also slammed Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and claimed that his allegation of an attempted assassination against him was false. “He first extended the tenure of former army chief General retired Qamar Javed Bajwa and now he is now blaming him. First, he blamed the US for his ouster,” the Minister said.
The minister stated that while Khan illegally disbanded the provincial assembly, he was constitutionally removed from office by a vote of no confidence, and he now intends to escape appearing in court.
Asif further accused the PTI leader of imprisoning Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians while in office. He said that throughout Khan’s three years in office, he was imprisoned and that his party leader also had to appear in court on fabricated charges.
“Imran Khan is creating crises every day but the government is tackling these crises and Pakistan will come out of all these crises soon,” Khawaja Asif remarked. He further added that the former prime minister developed an erroneous narrative of a US conspiracy but that the Supreme Court intervened and saved the country from a constitutional crisis.
Pakistan is currently experiencing its most difficult economic situation in the last 20 years. The country’s resources have also been depleted as a result of the economic crisis, political unrest, and increasing number of attacks in the northwest.
