Pakistan: PPP postpones protest in Sindh for single-day elections

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 24 : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh President Nisar Khuhro on Monday said that a protest scheduled for April 25 has been postponed as a "show of restraint," Geo News reported.

PPP had planned to hold protests in Sindh on Tuesday to demand that polls for the national and provincial assemblies should be held on the same day.

Nisar Khuhro said that all institutions, including the judiciary, need to pay attention to the demands of the people. He said that the elections in Pakistan must be held simultaneously. Khuhro further said, "If the people's voice is not heard, a date of protest will be announced again."

In his remarks, Khuhro said, "Pakistan cannot afford separate elections." He added that separate polls will destroy the political system of Pakistan and there will "always be a question mark on their transparency." He stressed that single-day elections can bolster the political system after the completion of the five-year term of the assemblies.

Earlier on Sunday, the Pakistan Peoples Party announced that it will hold a protest in Sindh on April 25 to demand elections across the country on the same day, Geo News reported.

While announcing the protest on Sunday, PPP Sindh president Nisar Khuhro said that their party will hold demonstrations at all district headquarters of Sindh, as per the news report. He said that Sindh does not accept the decision to conduct provincial and national assemblies separately except for the same day.

He said that the polls should be conducted simultaneously in Pakistan under the Election Act. PPP's call for the protest came amid the uncertainty regarding the election date as the ruling coalition demands elections on the same day in Pakistan while the Supreme Court has ordered snap polls to be conducted in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Last week, Pakistan Supreme Court ordered the opposition political parties to immediately reach a consensus on the date of elections and update it," as per the Geo News report.

The PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have said that they would sit with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and try to find a solution on the election date. Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which is a faction of the ruling coalition has refused to make any compromise as long as PTI is concerned.

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