Pakistan faces new constitutional crisis, claim Imran Khan
Pakistan's election authorities have delayed the election for a crucial regional assembly after Premier Shehbaz Sharif's government refused to provide the necessary funds and polling staff citing financial constraints.
The elections for the legislative assembly in the country's most populous Punjab province, which were to be held on April 30, were delayed until October 8, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on Wednesday.
Pakistan's ex-prime minister Imran Khan condemned the ECP's move, calling it a violation of Pakistan's constitution.
'Today everyone must stand behind the legal community– the judiciary and lawyers– with expectation that they will protect constitution,' Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman tweeted. 'For if this is accepted today then it is the end of rule of law in Pakistan.'
The poll panel’s decision came on the heels of a deepening political turmoil in the South Asian country, which has been struggling with a battered economy on the brink of default.
In January, Imran Khan's party got the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces dissolved as part of an attempt to compel the federal government to call snap national elections.
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