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Elections in Pakistan will only be held after introduction of poll reforms: Zardari

PPP co-chairman says coalition govt has no issue with voting rights, representation of overseas Pakistanis

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The co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Asif Zardari, has made it clear that elections in the country will only be held after poll reforms are introduced and the National Accountability Laws are amended.

Zardari, a senior political leader who played a key role in the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition parties in April against former premier Imran Khan, said elections would be held once the incumbent coalition government completes both tasks.

“I have also talked to Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) on this and we agreed that we can go to polls as soon as the reforms and targets are met.

“We have to change the laws and improve them and then go to elections. Whether it takes three or four months, we have to work on implementation of policies and improving the electoral process,” Zardari told a press conference in Karachi on Wednesday.

He also said the coalition government headed by Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif had no issue with voting rights and representation of overseas Pakistanis in elections.

Asked about Wednesday’s statement by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that one could not rule out the possibility of elections before November, Zardari said the PML-N leader had his own views and was bound to listen to his party’s directives.

He said the PPP and the PML-N had decided that until electoral reforms were brought, there would be no talk about the new army chief’s appointment.

Zardari also said the army was “apolitical” for the first time.

• Pakistan