Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will “take every possible measure, within the Constitution, to ensure transparency in the upcoming Senate elections and to end horse-trading in the polling process”.
The above was said during a press conference in the federal capital alongside Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, wherein the minister was defending the decision by the ruling party to introduce the presidential ordinance upon the upcoming Senate elections.
The minister explained that it was a necessary ordinance to stop the “tradition” of horse-trading within the elections, adding that the PTI had promised to abolish such practices once it came into power. He added that those who have been buying and selling votes in the past are the ones objecting to the move.
The minister added that the government filed a presidential reference to the Supreme Court (SC) with a request for interpretation of the law pertaining to the Senate polls, asking whether the elections could be held through show of hands instead of the secret balloting.
In this regard, the planning minister declared that the government would definitively respect the decisions taken by the SC.
Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday concurred that the government will accept the guidance of the SC in the case of open ballot in Senate elections.
He pointed out that while the opposition had demanded open ballot elections previously, they are now speaking against it. He added that the opposition parties had been invited to hold a dialogue on the matter, but they had repeatedly refused to do so.
The foreign minister said that the PTI-led government has filed a petition in the court and the government has two options, either to seek guidance or make an amendment in the Constitution, for which two-thirds majority is required in the Parliament.
Referring to the opposition’s claims in regards to the army’s role in the politics of the country, he said that the armed forces were protecting the borders and guarding the security of the country. “Politicians should not politicise the role of armed forces,” he added.
Qureshi also paid tribute to the martyrs in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and said that the government of Pakistan is raising the matter of the atrocities of the Indian fascist regime against innocent Kashmiris at all world forums and will continue to support the oppressed Kashmiris.
