ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Tuesday said Prime Minister Imran Khan had always stressed that the Senate elections should be held in a transparent and fair manner.
He said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had a clear stance that politics of money should end and capability and merit should be promoted.
In a statement, he said issues related to Senate elections were discussed during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The minister said members who were trustees of the vote of the electorate in provinces should not cast their vote in a flawed and wrong manner. The governments in the past did promote the culture of money in politics, he added.
He said the final list of candidates of PTI for the Senate elections would be completed today.
The minister said during a public meeting Maryam Nawaz affirmed that the future of Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) was dark and now she expressed her desire to go abroad. He was referring to the incident in which Maryam said, before her Wazirabad rally, that she needed to go abroad for a minor surgery.
He remarked that he could not understand why the Sharif family was afflicted with diseases which could not be treated in Pakistan. Maryam Nawaz was giving a message to specific circles to clear the way for her travel abroad, he added.
Shibli said the government will not allow Maryam Nawaz to go abroad added Nawaz Sharif also went abroad for his medical treatment but he started his political moves.
The minister said instead of issuing a passport, Nawaz Sharif would be given travel documents so he could return to the country.
The passport could not be given to a person who was wanted by the law, he said, adding that the government could not facilitate Nawaz Sharif so that he should go away somewhere else.
Earlier today, Faraz said on Twitter that people opposing open ballot in Senate elections wanted a continuation of the corrupt system against which Prime Minister Imran Khan declared a war.
The information minister made his remarks on Twitter where he further said that Pakistan was at an important juncture of history where a decision has to be made whether the public representatives reach the parliament on the basis of merit and capability or via “sale and purchase” of votes.
Earlier, the minister stressed that “sale and purchase” of votes and horse-trading cannot serve the Constitution and democracy.
In a series of tweets on his official Twitter handle on February 8, the federal minister urged political parties and parliamentarians to support transparency in the election process.
He said that this would strengthen democracy and enhance the prestige of parliament.
He said that those who become members of the upper house by “investing money” would put the protection of personal interest before the people.
Shibli said that the mission of Prime Minister Imran Khan is to eradicate corruption from the country and ensure transparency. “The PTI will not back down in its struggle to achieve that goal.”
The statement came at a time when President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday signed the Election Amendment Ordinance 2021 under which the upcoming Senate elections can be held through an open ballot, triggering a debate in the country.
The opposition parties have raised their concern over the issue, saying that the government of PM Imran is trying to make the Senate elections controversial.
However, the opposition’s hopes were dampened on Monday when Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed — while hearing the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) petition filed against the Election Amendment Ordinance — observed that no one can stop the government from promulgating the ordinance.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, during a press conference in Karachi earlier today, said that his party would participate in the elections despite it being an open ballot one but would challenge it in the court.
