(Updates with parliament resolution)
By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) - Provincial snap
elections are not in Pakistan's national interest given its
economic turmoil and security situation, the country's finance
minister said on Monday, in defiance of an order by the
country's supreme court.
His comments raise the risk of constitutional deadlock to
compound the country's political and economic upheaval
In a victory for former prime minister Imran Khan, the court
last week mandated the elections, which have been rejected by
parliament.
The court set Monday as the deadline for the government to
issue funds - 21 billion Pakistani rupees ($73.4 million) - to
the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and told the ECP to
report back to it on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday put forward a financial
bill to seek a vote on whether to approve the election funding.
It was not clear when a vote would take place.
"The country's economic, security and internal conditions
demand that snap polls aren't in the national interest," he said
in a televised speech to parliament.
He suggested holding the elections together in all provinces
and national seats, saying that would reduce logistics and
security expenses, which according to the house speaker was
later adopted in a resolution in the parliament.
The supreme court ordered snap polls in the most populated
Punjab province to be held on May 14, and said a date could be
agreed later for the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,
pending some technical issues.
Khan had ordered the dissolution of local governments run by
his party in the two provinces to try to force the government to
hold elections that are not due until October across the
country.
He has been campaigning across Pakistan since he was ousted
in a parliamentary no confidence vote in April last year.
The country's crises have worsened meanwhile.
To try to counter a resurgence in attacks, the government
over the weekend also announced a country-wide military
offensive against Islamist militants.
Pakistan is also in danger of defaulting on its debt. An
International Monetary Fund bailout has been stalled since
November, while its central bank's foreign exchange reserves
would cover just four weeks of imports, and inflation exceeds
35%.
($1 = 286.2500 Pakistani rupees)
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; editing by John Stonestreet and
Barbara Lewis)
