- PTI to start election campaign from April 29
- Party seeks resignations of Dar, Kulsoom
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday decided to pitch party leader Azam Swati against Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman for the position of the opposition leader in Senate.
After a core committee meeting of the party, the PTI spokesperson announced that the party will start its election campaign from April 29, starting with a public gathering in Lahore.
Despite the fact that both the parties had recently joined hands for election of Sadiq Sanjrani and Saleem Mandviwala for the slots of Senate chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, they will contest each other for the opposition leader’s post.
PTI chief Imran Khan has also instructed central party leaders to visit various regions to boost the membership.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi ruled out an alliance with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), saying the mutual understanding during the Senate elections for top slots existed only for the sake of appointing a candidate from Balochistan
Speaking to journalists, Qureshi said that if the chairman was elected from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) then democracy would have been damaged. Elaborating on his remarks, the PTI leader said that the PML-N was on a road to confrontation alluding to Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N supreme leader, criticism on the higher judiciary.
Regarding the ruling party lawmakers and allies who didn’t support its nominee, Raja Zafarul Haq, Qureshi said that the PML-N should ponder over the identity of the people who didn’t support it despite being a part of it.
PTI SEEKS DAR, KULSOOM’S RESIGNATIONS:
Meanwhile, PTI Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry, in his letter to the Senate chairman and National Assembly (NA) speaker stated that Ishaq Dar and Kulsoom Nawaz’s failure to take oath of office despite being elected was akin to robbing masses of their democratic rights.
The party on Friday submitted objections in the parliament on the election of PML-N leaders Ishaq Dar and Kulsoom Nawaz to the Senate and National Assembly, respectively.
Dar was awarded the Senate ticket despite facing corruption cases and having been declared as an absconder by a court, which was a joke with democracy, the letter stated. Dar should either be asked to immediately take oath or be forced to step down, the PTI letter stated.
Raising objections over the election of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz, the letter stated that she was awarded a ticket despite being seriously ill and incapable of carrying out political activities.
“Kulsoom Nawaz should be asked to resign in the larger interest of the masses and taking into account democratic pre-requisites. We pray for her complete recovery from the bottom of our hearts,” PTI said.
The PTI, citing the above-mentioned cases, also demanded a change in the law regarding oath-taking.
Former finance minister Ishaq Dar was facing corruption cases which were filed in light of the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict in the Panama Papers case. The accountability court, which was hearing the case, declared him an absconder after he failed to appear before it after a couple of hearings. Dar had been in London for medical treatment.
Kulsoom had also been seeking medical treatment in the United Kingdom after being diagnosed with cancer. She won the NA-120 by-poll after the seat fell vacant following Nawaz’s disqualification by the SC.