ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday filed a petition in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in connection with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s statements on the recently-concluded Senate election.
Abbasi, while addressing an event in Dera Ghazi Khan on Saturday, had said that if the politics of the current times meant electing a chairman with bought votes, then the system needs to be corrected.
“Should our senators be those who buy votes of other people? Should the chairman be a person who bought votes? This is the quality of politics nowadays. This is the wrong we have to correct with the power of votes,” he had asserted.
The PM had called out Sanjrani for buying votes, saying, “You should take an oath of honesty and issue a statement saying that you haven’t bought the top slot.”
“I was advised by people not to intervene in Senate election, but I will keep interfering if something wrong is going on,” the PM had added.
In its petition, the PTI demanded the premier substantiate his claims before the commission.
The petition further reads, “The prime minister delivered an ‘alarming’ statement on money being traded in the election of the Senate chairman. The office of the chief executive is the most informed…His statement…is more of a confession than a disclosure.”
The petition asked for the premier to be summoned and claims aired probed. Excerpts from statements were also inserted with the petition.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PML-N had accused the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led alliance of indulging in horse-trading during the Senate elections, with Maryam Nawaz, the former first daughter, termed the opposition senators ‘pawn in the chess game’.
On March 14, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had taken suo moto notice of the alleged horse-trading in the Senate elections, held on March 3.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Raza Khan had said, “It is unfortunate that those who sell their vote, and those who buy it are both parliamentarians.”
