'Fair play' in polls or fear of PTI's popularity?

ISLAMABAD -- Back-to-back terrorism activities, shortage of funds, unavailabiliAty of army for elections and othAer related matters could be obAvious reasons to delay polls in any country. The demand of snap polls by Imran Khan has clearly been turned down by the PDM's governAment and now it has seemingly become a far cry to immeAdiately conduct poll in any province. Albeit the PTI chief Imran Khan made possible attempts to comApel the government for snap polls yet it mainly reAmains a wish. Khan kept harping on the government to conduct polls in two provinces [Punjab and KP]. Whereas, the government and concerned instituAtions have their own say on it. Unlike the past histoAry, PTI has even taken unprecedented steps by disAsolving assemblies of two provinces yet it could only get schedule for the polls.

Though the repeated political mantra of the parAty helped the party to grab the attention of the apex court to intervene in this matter, yet the elecAtoral watchdog, sharing dozens of arguments, postponed the polls in Punjab. The fate of elections in KP is still hanging in the balance. The top electoral body has decided to deliberate the matter regarding polls in KP on coming Monday in the light of letter written by KP governor to Chief Election CommisAsioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, with the clear intenAtion to postpone the election in KP, has drawn the attention towards the fresh wave of terrorism in the north-western province. Mentioning terrorist activAities including the recent incident in which a convoy was ambushed in South Waziristan, resulting in the martyrdom of Brig Mustafa Kamal Barki, he asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay polls for further five months. The governor, in the letter, suggested that since the ECP has postponed the date for general elections of Punjab to October 8, it is also suggested that the same date should be...