ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not hold an early general election, a cabinet minister said yesterday, insisting the current government would see out its term, which ends in March.
A long-running legal wrangle with the Supreme Court over corruption allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari has already led to one prime minister being thrown out of office and there has been speculation the festering row could force early polls.
But information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the coalition government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would complete its term.
“The government will complete its tenure on March 18, 2013 after which a caretaker government will be formed,” Kaira told reporters in Islamabad.
“Elections will be held accordingly on due time and we want them to be transparent.”
If it lasts until March, the government will become the first elected administration in decades to complete a full five-year term.
Under Pakistan’s constitution, when the mandate ends a caretaker administration has to be appointed to hold a general election within 90 days.
EU grants Pakistan flood, unrest aid
BRUSSELS: The European Commission said yesterday it will release another 15m euros in aid ($19m) to Pakistan where tens of thousands of people are affected by flood and unrest.
The money takes the 2012 total for Pakistan to 70 million and will be targeted at help for those affected by ongoing conflict in the north of the country as well as victims of a third successive year of heavy flooding in the south.
“These two largely unreported crises in Pakistan are affecting tens of thousands of vulnerable people,” said EU aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
Flash floods have affected hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed as many acres of crops.
Agencies
