Khan welcomes new runners, denounces horse trading

• PTI chief welcomes 50 politicians in party, says Senate elections should be held through open balloting to curb horse trading
• Alleges appointment of PML-N ‘umpire’ ahead of GB polls, warns to take to streets and courts if polls are rigged

Speaking to journalists after welcoming around 50 Kashmiri politicians in his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday denounced horse-trading and made an apparently unconstitutional demand to curb the menace.

Addressing a press conference while wearing a traditional pakol (cap) indigenous to the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, the cricketer-turned-politician urged political parties to agree on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections to curb horse-trading.

Khan’s proposal conflicts with Article 226 of the Constitution which reads, “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the prime minister and the chief minister, shall be by secret ballot.”

However, Khan did not restrict himself to propose mere open balloting and demanded, “I ask all political parties to have a constitutional amendment for holding direct elections of Senate.”

In order to substantiate his point of horse-trading and bribes in Senate elections, the PTI chief said, “Someone has offered Rs 150 million as donation to ShaukatKhanumHospital for a party ticket.” He did not share further details about the offer.

“Why are Senate elections held through secret balloting?” he questioned, claiming it allows people to bribe MPs.

The PTI chairman gave the example of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which has only five seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and is contesting two candidates, adding that each Senate seat required the votes of at least seven to eight MPAs.

Elaborating on his point, he said the only way PPP could succeed in winning those two Senate seat is through bribery as in his view there was no other way around it.

Khan pointed out that all political parties except the PTI had awarded party tickets to people from a province where they do not belong. “The PTI is contesting elections merely from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have not given a ticket to anyone from outside the province,” he added.

Responding to a question, he said that the PTI would take serious action and even put its own MPA behind bars if allegations of bribe to vote for a particular Senate candidate are proved. The PTI is also planning to right a letter to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he added.

“One of our MPAs supported a candidate and we have asked the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to take action against him and will take further action if charges of bribery are proved against him. What services will a senator offer to the country if he comes into position though bribery?” the PTI chairman questioned.

PROMISES FOR GB:

Flanked by former Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Barrister Sultan Mehmood, who formally joined the PTI on last week, Khan told reporters that he was presenting the facts well before the election unlike in the general election. This time the PTI would pre-emptively resist poll-rigging in GB, he vowed.

Khan cited the examples of Balochistan and Bangladesh with regard to deprivation of rights and made four demands with regard to GB whose people, according to Khan, have been rendered as second-class citizens.

He asked for the rights of the people of GB so as to not let the people “feel deprived like the people of Azad Jammu Kashmir”. He also demanded free and fair elections to ensure genuine representatives to rise up.

Khan also asked for devolution and decentralisation of power and independence. “They should be able to run their own affairs. The region is going backwards and should be given a chance to develop and progress.”

GB GOVERNOR APPOINTMENT:

Furthermore, Khan said the appointment of GB governor is unconstitutional as after the 18th Amendment, the governor should be a local nominee.

The PTI chairman said that the government had maintained 12 cabinet ministers, all of whom were PML-N members, in GB’s caretaker setup instead of three cabinet members. He added that the chief election commissioner was also a “PML-N activist”.

He said the governor has started distributing funds to purchase votes and thus it is clear before the elections that PML-N is going to indulge in rigging of elections.

Khan continued his tirade against the government, accusing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of nominating his own ‘umpire’ for the upcoming elections in GB region. He warned the government that his party will challenge it in court and take to the streets in case the polls were rigged.

LB POLLS WOES:

Imran Khan also criticised the government for delaying local government elections and pointed out that a dictator held local government elections in Pakistan but a democratic civilian government has avoided doing the same.

Khan added that both major political parties of the country – PPP and PMLN – have opposed holding local government elections and have refused to devolve power to the people while the PTI is reintroducing the local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Replying to a question, Khan questioned why the government is afraid of forming the judicial commission to investigate into rigging of elections.

Moreover, Khan termed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) “militant wing” of the ruling PML-N. He said PEMRA should be shut down as it was no more an independent body. He said PEMRA was tasked with censoring criticism against the government, instead of its actual job of regulation.

To another question, the PTI chief said that Najam Sethi was rewarded by giving him the post of chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI’s president for Azad Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood announced that over 50 politicians from Azad Kashmir are joining PTI. He added that these politicians were earlier part of the PML-N, the PPP and the PML-Q. Barrister Sultan added, that the government is trying to postpone local bodies elections in Mirpur because it feared that the PML-N would win the election.