Pakistan elections will be held in November, says Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

PPP will campaign for itself rather than on a joint platform with other parties

Islamabad: Elections in Pakistan will be held in November and the ruling party PML-N is currently consulting with all the parties including PPP to form an interim government, said Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“Elections will be held shortly. When an interim government is formed, they will announce the date. As per Pakistan’s constitution, elections have to be held in November. This is what we are stressing in our meetings with partners,” Zardari told Newswire

Zardari was speaking after inaugurating the wax figure of his late mother and former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto at Madame Tussauds in Dubai. The wax figure has been relocated from London to Dubai.

He revealed that PML-N is consulting with all the parties and his party PPP will put forward its views after consulting with the ruling PML-N.

Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier announced that they will hand over the government to a caretaker setup before the completion of the term on August 12.

Bilawal Bhutto stressed that his party PPP will campaign for itself rather than on a joint platform with other parties. The current government is formed under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), consisting of over 10 political parties.

“Our broader aim is to form such a government that takes all the parties and stakeholders together, going forward,” said the foreign minister.

Meanwhile, he praised the UAE-Pakistan relations and thanked the UAE rulers for their support during floods and a $1 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan recently.

“Pakistan and UAE’s brotherly relations started with the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. All the UAE leaders supported Pakistan during floods and also played an important role that made the IMF deal possible to help the country move forward economically,” he said.