On Saturday, Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was detained, according to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. This development came shortly after Qureshi had declared that his party would challenge any potential delay in the country’s election through legal means.
Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari stated that the precise reason for Qureshi’s detention, who has previously served as Pakistan’s foreign minister on two occasions, was not immediately clear. The caretaker information minister had yet to respond to requests for comments at the time of reporting.
Bukhari, taking to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), condemned the arrest. He asserted that Qureshi had been “arrested for doing a press conference and reaffirming PTI’s stance against all tyranny and pre-poll rigging that is going on currently in Pakistan.”
Imran Khan, the chairman of the PTI party, is currently serving a three-year jail sentence after being convicted of graft charges. Additionally, he is barred from participating in any election for five years, though he maintains his innocence. Khan had won the previous election in 2018 and served as prime minister until his removal via a no-confidence vote in 2022.
The forthcoming election is constitutionally mandated to occur within 90 days of the dissolution of parliament, which took place last week. This would place the election date around November. However, considerable uncertainty surrounds the timing of the election due to a range of constitutional, political, and economic crises facing the nation.
In its final days, the outgoing government sanctioned a new census, necessitating the redrawing of electoral boundaries by the Election Commission. This process, which involves revising boundaries for numerous federal and provincial constituencies in a country with a population of 241 million, could extend over six months or more, as noted by a former commission official.
The Election Commission indicated that the new constituencies would be finalized by December 14, with the election date to be confirmed thereafter, as reported by state television.
Experts in electoral matters have suggested that this process may lead to a significant delay in the nationwide vote, possibly pushing it to February or beyond.
Qureshi voiced concern regarding potential breaches of the 90-day deadline, labeling such a delay as unconstitutional. He indicated that the PTI intended to challenge any delay in the Supreme Court.
Political analysts speculate that an extended period without an elected government, should the current caretaker setup exceed its constitutional term, could empower the military. The military, which has governed Pakistan directly for more than three decades of its 76-year history, could use such a period to consolidate its control.
On Monday, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, a relatively obscure politician believed to have close ties to the military, was sworn in as prime minister. Kakar’s caretaker administration enjoys exceptional powers, unlike previous caretaker governments in Pakistan’s history, enabling it to make policy decisions on economic matters.
This expanded authority is ostensibly aimed at ensuring the country adheres to a nine-month, $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package secured in June. During the caretaker period, at least one of the three program reviews tied to the IMF bailout will take place, with the possibility of more if elections are further delayed.