“The date of the election is October 2023,” Marriyum Aurangzeb said after taking a brief pause while saying 2000 during a press conference in Islamabad. The information minister was speaking about the Daily Mail story and the PTI’s apparent link with the person who reported it. She smirked after saying the date.

“I was giving a little margin. Hopefully, which is according to the Constitution, which is the five-year tenure, and elections will be held after that. Contest election, we will accept whatever the people’s response will be,” she reiterated after seeing the reaction to her reply.

The question was related to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s meetings with President Arif Alvi in which the latter has put forward the PTI’s demand for early elections to the former. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has also admitted that the president was playing the role of mediator between the government and the PDM.

Fahd Husain, the prime minister’s spokesperson, to some extent responded to the deadlock in an interview with Aaj News. “Only Mr president or Dar sahab know about it. But, the important point is the government suffers when there is instability in the country. It is in the government’s interest to keep the political temperatures low.”

He admitted that the president was playing a role in the ongoing negotiations, however, maintained that “elections will be held on time”. The PM’s spokesperson stressed that all stakeholders should sit together for electoral reforms.

“For now, keep it October 2023. By the grace of God, elections in Pakistan will be held in October 2023,” Marriyum reiterated as she signed off from the press talk.