PPP to postpone April 25 protest as 'show of restraint'

• All institutions ought to pay heed to demands of the people, says Khuhro.
• Khuhro says new date to be announced if "people's voice is not heard.”
• Separate elections “would destroy Pakistan's political system,” Khuhro adds.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh President Nisar Khuhro announced Monday that a protest scheduled for April 25 (tomorrow) — to demand that elections for the national and provincial assemblies be held on the same day — has been postponed as a “show of restraint”.

In a statement, Khuhro said that all institutions, including the judiciary, ought to pay heed to the demands of the people.

He reiterated his demand that elections be held in the country simultaneously and said: “If the people's voice is not heard, a date of protest will be announced again.”

The PPP leader further maintained: “Pakistan cannot afford separate elections.”

He added that separate elections would destroy Pakistan's political system and there would “always be a question mark on there transparency”.

“After the completion of the five-year term of the assemblies, single-day elections alone can strengthen the political system,” he said.

Yesterday, the PPP announced that it would hold a protest across the province on April 25 to demand elections across the country on the same day.

"Sindh doesn't accept the decision to hold polls [to provincial and national assemblies] separately except for the same day," he said.

Khuhro said that the elections should be conducted simultaneously under the Election Act.

“Separate elections will be equivalent to dividing the country into two parts,” he added.

Election enigma

The call for the protest came amid the existing uncertainty regarding the date of the polls as the ruling coalition demands elections on the same day across the country while the Supreme Court has ordered snap polls to be conducted in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The top court last week — in the hearing of multiple petitions requesting that elections be held simultaneously — directed the opposition political parties to immediately thrash out a consensus on the date of elections. 

The PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) shared their desire to sit with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and try to find a solution on the election date via a dialogue. However, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which is a part of the ruling alliance, has refused to make any compromise as far as PTI is concerned.