Elections to be held on Feb 8: Gen Asim Munir

• Army chief's remarks come in meeting with Pakistani businessmen.
• Assurance by COAS to overseas Pakistanis comes before SC verdict.
• Gen Asim says if delayed, elections won't go beyond Senate polls.

KARACHI: In a meeting with the Pakistani-American business community in the United States last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir assured them that elections “will be held on February 8”.

The army chief’s remark came hours before the Supreme Court verdict on the conduct of polls on February 8 was issued on Friday evening.

The issue was raised during General Asim Munir’s interaction with overseas Pakistanis at a dinner reception hosted by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington when a businessman posed the question to the army chief.

Speaking with Geo News, Tanveer Ahmed, a Texas-based Pakistani businessman who was among the participants, quoted the army chief as saying, “As far as I know general elections will be held on the 8th of February.”

While referring to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) petition, which at the time was heard in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the ECP, the army chief said, “If elections get delayed due to that it won’t be beyond the limit when Senate elections are to be held,” Ahmed shared.

The next Senate elections in Pakistan are likely to be held in March 2024.

The LHC had suspended the electoral body’s notification to requisition returning officers (ROs) from bureaucracy on December 13, which created doubts over the holding of elections on time.

However, the apex court suspended the high court verdict and directed the commission to proceed as per plan.