Khattak presents report of horse-trading allegations to PTI chairman

• PTI chairman says Rs40m was given to each MPA for changing loyalty

KARACHI: A meeting regarding the recent Senate elections was held between the higher ups of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at the party chairman Imran Khan’s residence on Tuesday.

The ‘core group’ meeting included PTI Member National Assembly’s (MNA) Asad Umar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Imran, leader Jahangir Tareen and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Sources revealed that a report regarding horse-trading allegations in the Senate elections was presented by Parvez Khattak. The report stated that 15 party MPA’s were involved in selling their votes.

During Saturday’s elections for the Senate, PTI bagged five seats from KP and only one from Punjab.

Earlier, Imran Khan on Monday had accepted that provincial lawmakers from his party fell prey to ‘horse-trading’ during Senate elections held on Saturday, and tasked Khattak with probing into the matter and reporting back.

While talking to reporters, Khan said that he is not sure who took the money to change loyalty during the voting but said he was sure that his party’s MPA’s were involved in the act.

“Rs 40 million was given to each member of the provincial assembly to buy their conscience,” claimed Imran.

The PTI chief urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar to take suo moto notice on election horse-trading. “The investigative agencies should also find who was involved in it as this is against democracy,” said Khan.

According to media reports, at least 17 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) allegedly sold their votes during the Senate election, enabling two Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidates to be elected to the Senate from the province where the PPP has only six MPAs.

An initial investigation ordered by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak into alleged horse-trading revealed that at least 17 and as many as 20 PTI MPAs in KP had voted for candidates outside the party, sources in the CM House Peshawar and Bani Gala claimed on Sunday.

The investigation report also claimed that those allegedly involved in the practice included several prominent party leaders and disgruntled party members, the sources said.

CM Khattak shared the findings with PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday, according to the sources. During the discussion, the party chief expressed his anger over alleged horse-trading in the province and directed Khattak to submit a detailed report in this regard.