Pakistan: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called again on Monday for snap elections after his party took control of the local parliament in Sunday’s polls in the country’s most populous state, Punjab.
This by-election included the selection of 20 new local representatives and was a test of the popularity of the former international cricket star, whose government was toppled in a vote of no confidence last April.
His party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf, won 15 seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League, led by current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, contented itself with four seats, and the last seat was won by an independent candidate.
Sunday’s vote is seen as an indicator of the national legislative elections due to be held in October next year, even though Khan has been demanding an early vote since his government was toppled.
“The only way to move forward any longer is to hold free and transparent elections,” Khan wrote in a tweet Monday after the results were released in Punjab.
Every other path will lead to more political uncertainty and more economic chaos.”
Since his exit from power, Khan has held rallies that attracted thousands, giving long speeches in which he asserted that a US-led conspiracy had imposed the current government.
He holds the local government responsible for the high inflation, although most analysts agree that Sharif inherited the economic crisis in the country, which is likely to ease with the signing of an agreement last week with the International Monetary Fund to resume implementation of the $7.2 billion aid plan.
As per the media results of the polls in Punjab came as a result of the economic difficulties in the country, which spends about half of its revenues on servicing foreign debt.
To fulfil the IMF’s conditions, Sharif was forced to lift fuel subsidies, which increased prices by 50 percent in less than two months.
With the election results in Punjab, Hamza Shahbaz’s short term at the head of the state government is expected to end.
