LAHORE: A day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dropped a hint that general elections may be delayed, a former PML-N lawmaker has added more uncertainty, saying polls would be held only after party supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan.

Talal Chaudhry, who on Wednesday celebrated the end of five-year bar on taking part in elections, imposed on him by the Supreme Court, linked the holding of upcoming polls with the return of the former premier.

Mr Chaudhry is considered among those who are close to the elder Sharif.

When whether elections are being delayed in the name of census, Mr Chau­d­hry said: “The moment Na­­w­az Sharif boards a plane to Pakistan, it should be seen as a sign of elections taking place in the country.”

Addressing a presser, Talal Chaudhry said Nawaz Sharif would not only lead the election campaign, but would also be the party’s candidate for prime minister.

“For free and fair polls, Nawaz should be given justice. His disqualification will end in a moment if courts give him justice,” he said.

The former MNA said though elections should be held on time, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) enjoys the authority to announce a date for the exercise.

Mr Chaudhry repeated party leader Maryam Nawaz’s demand that balancing both sides of scale should be ensured before the polls otherwise nothing would change, including economy.

He also said that people did not want to see Justice Qazi Faez Isa as a ‘conventional’ chief justice. The chief justice of Pakistan will have to undo all the “wrong decisions” of the judiciary, he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif felicitated Talal Chaudhry and Daniyal Aziz, another party leader, on the expiry of their five-year disqualification term awarded to them for contempt of court, APP reported.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2023