Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday said that he has advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to call elections after presenting the budget, claiming that the cricketer-turned politician’s popularity had increased following the Opposition’s submission of a no-trust motion against him.

Rashid, however, said that the idea for early elections after presenting the federal budget for fiscal year 2022-23 was his own “opinion” and should not be taken as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s stance, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Rashid said that he has advised Khan to call elections after presenting the federal budget, which is tabled each year weeks before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

This is the second time in a week that Rashid has called for snap polls to end the political crisis.

On Thursday, Rashid had said that early elections can be held in the country to end the current political uncertainty due to the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Khan. The next general election is due by late 2023.

No Pakistani Prime Minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Rashid said that voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan can be held on April 3 or 4.

He said that he was giving the likely dates for vote on the presumption that the motion of no-trust will be presented in the National Assembly on March 28.

“The voting is held between three to seven days after the motion is tabled,” he said.

Rashid termed the Opposition “foolish” for submitting the no-trust motion against Khan and said that the move has taken the prime minister to a level of popularity where “it is the right time to go for early elections”.

“I’m asking for early elections after presenting a good budget because this incompetent Opposition has allowed us to win again. When the Pakistani nation sees their (Opposition leaders) faces, they switch channels,” he said.

“This is the same Shehbaz (Sharif) who says (former Prime Minister) Nawaz (Sharif) greatly respects (Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed) Bajwa and the Army. Where did ‘vote ko izzat do’ go? The vote has been sold at shops, they have insulted democracy,” Rashid said, referring to Sharif’s earlier rhetoric of attacking the army chief for allegedly ousting him from power.

He said that if needed, the interior ministry could also summon the army under Article 245 of the Constitution after approval from Khan. The remarks come as both the government and the Opposition were making claims about their success in the vote.