PPP to contest by-polls with full force, says Kaira

• PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira says if PPP is to go for the Senate elections, it would have to maintain its majority in the Sindh Assembly.
• PPP against boycotting by-polls.
• PML-N says it will issue a policy statement after consultation with the PDM leadership.

ISLAMABAD: PPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira has said the party is not in favour of boycotting the elections and will contest the by-polls with full force, The News reported Wednesday.

Appearing on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, the PPP stalwart said the government would get a walk-over if the field was open for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government.

Read more: ECP breaks silence over Senate elections controversy

If the PPP is to go for the Senate elections, it would have to maintain its majority in the Sindh Assembly, he said.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said his party had held discussions about taking part in the by-polls and Senate elections.

Read more: Could the March polls flip the Senate in favor of PTI?

The party, he said, will issue a policy statement after consultation with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership.

PML-N had not asked the party senators to submit their resignations yet, he said, adding that discussions were also underway with the PDM leaders about taking part in the by-elections.

He said a consensus statement will be issued in a day or two.

Govt to hold Senate elections in February instead of March

The government has decided to hold Senate elections in February instead of March 2021, sources have told Geo News.

The decision was taken last week during a meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The government decided to use "open voting" for the elections, the sources added.

Addressing a post-cabinet meeting press conference, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz had said that the PTI-led government is striving to make the Senate elections free and fair.

"Controversies have always surrounded the Senate elections. It is such an old practice that it is assumed that in the elections, [horse trading] will surely take place," he had said.

Reminding the people of PTI's promise to bringing about reforms in the electoral process, he said that PM Imran Khan had dismissed 20 members of provincial assemblies.