Taking a stern stance against horse-trading, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday categorically told PTI lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ‘leave the party’ if they intended to sell their votes, a private TV channel reported.
The prime minister visited the city on Monday after the PTI suffered a defeat in the recently-held Nowshera by-election, where the PML-N candidate won from the PTI stronghold.
A resolution backing the party’s Senate candidates was passed with consensus during the meeting, said Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information, Kamran Bangash. He said that the prime minister was briefed in detail about the party’s recent loss in the Nowshera by-election, claiming that the PML-N had adopted ‘modern methods’ to rig the polls. “There is a difference of 6,000-7,000 in forms 45 and 46,” alleged Bangash, adding that the PML-N had brought in experts to rig the polls.
He said that the prime minister had been told that the party intends to move the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the election’s results, adding that the PTI will get the winning candidate, Ikhtiyar Wali, disqualified. “We will never let the people’s mandate be stolen,” he said.
Sources confirmed that 20 lawmakers – 14 MNAs and six MPAs – remained absent from the meeting chaired by the prime minister. The lawmakers did not attend the meeting due to preoccupations and various other reasons, said the sources.
During the meeting, the prime minister categorically told lawmakers that whoever wants to sell his vote in the upcoming Senate elections should leave the party. “Everyone gets to know about the MPA who sells his/her vote,” he reportedly said.
The prime minister spoke about the previous Senate elections, saying that some MPAs of the party had then sold their votes for money, adding that he had dismissed them from the party after finding out about it. “The opposition is afraid that the PTI will secure a majority in the Senate,” he was quoted as saying by sources.
Imran Khan reiterated his resolve to uphold transparency in the democratic system as his politics was aimed at serving the masses and working for the betterment of coming generations. He said the political manifesto of PTI is to serve the masses wholeheartedly and without any discrimination. Unfortunately, he said, some people joined politics to make money rather to serve the people. “A nation is destined to doom when it loses morality and cannot distinguish between right and wrong,” he added.
The prime minister said that they would accept whatever decision the apex court takes in a presidential reference on the Senate election through an open ballot. He directed the party members during the meeting to support and ensure the success of the Senate candidates nominated by the party.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has advised the PTI’s candidate to ask for re-polling in 20 polling stations of NA-75 constituency of Daska. “So even though there is no legal compulsion to do so before ECP announces results, I would request our PTI candidate to ask for re-polling in the 20 polling stations,” the prime minister said on Twitter. He said he had always struggled for fair and free elections. The opposition was crying hoarse over in the Daska NA 75 bye-election, he added. The prime minister reiterated the PTI wanted transparency that was why it was seeking open ballot for the Senate elections.
