Top economist Kaiser Bengali has vehemently opposed early elections in the country without stabilising the economy including inflation.
In a tweet, Bengali said that “early elections, before inflation and dollar rates are stabilized, will be a disaster”.
He further said that “election expenses increase money in circulation and will add fire to already high inflation. The only way to stabilize inflation is through reduction of non-development expenditures.”
It is to be noted here that since his ouster from power, former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has consistently been demanding to hold early elections. In his ongoing public addresses, early elections have become his solo demand from the quarters concerned.
Earlier, former president and Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari ruled out early elections in the country without carrying out electoral reforms.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, he said that he talked to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and it was decided that “we will not go for polls until electoral reforms are done. Elections will only take place after reforms”.
According to media reports, Zardari said that his party was not afraid of elections but nothing will be achieved if they are carried out prematurely. “I had been saying this from the very beginning to go for elections but nobody listened to me. We will achieve nothing by holding the early elections”.
He said that reforms in NAB laws would also be carried out so that “it cannot be used for wrong reasons”. “We will depute non-political officers in NAB.”
Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told BBC Urdu said that the government may agree to hold early elections before the appointment of the new army chief, who will replace the incumbent army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in November.
The federal minister said that it was also possible that by the time the appointment of the new chief is made, the new government would have already replaced the caretaker set-up after the election.
