Pakistan lacks funds, security to hold elections, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif says

Pakistan's nosedive into an economic crisis has left the country's Finance Ministry with a deficit of funds to even hold elections, according to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. According to Dawn, he made the revelation at a joint media conference alongside Information Minister Marriyum in the capital city of Islamabad. 

Shedding light on the upcoming polls that were pushed from April 30 to October 8, the Minister said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed the elections because of the country's “deteriorated” security situation and “tough” financial circumstances. 

“Since February, in the last one month or couple of months, the security situation has definitely deteriorated," he admitted, according to Dawn. 

Talking about the lack of funds to conduct elections, Asif said: “I am aware of the fact that the ministry of finance has said that under the present circumstances, we are going through some very tough times […] so we won’t be able to provide funds for these elections, which if you hold now on 30th of April and then in October, so you are providing funds for elections twice in a year.”

But a shortage in money isn't the only thing that is posing a hindrance to the polls. According to Asif, the unavailability of sufficient security that could be deployed at polling stations is also a big challenge. “The commitment that our army has at the moment for the internal and external threats, they’ve said that […] it takes almost a month for the deployment of forces to the polling stations, especially the static duty — they have to take over the polling stations," he said.

Pak Defence Minister slams Imran Khan

During the session, Asif also denounced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and said that he was falsely claiming that assassination attempts are being made against him. The Defence Minister blamed the former premier for a number of events, such as causing social disarray by evading his arrest.

“This has never happened in Pakistan before. Even during Imran’s regime, and in the past too, opposition leaders were arrested and they surrendered in a dignified manner," he said, adding that when Khan "appears before the court, his attendance is marked while he is sitting in his car, his supporters mob the courts and intimidate them […] they (the courts) come under pressure and face threats.”