Prime Minister Imran Khan will seek a vote of confidence from the parliament after the ruling PTI lost the hotly contested Senate general seat from Islamabad to the joint opposition, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference hours after the PTI’s upset loss was confirmed, Qureshi said it should be made clear who stood where after today’s vote. “Those standing with Imran Khan will be seen on one side and those who are not, and think they like the ideology of the PPP and PML-N have every right to join their ranks,” said Qureshi, who was flanked by several PTI ministers including Asad Umar, Shireen Mazari, Shafqat Mehmood and Fawad Chaudhry. He urged PTI workers to hold onto the belief that the PTI would compete with the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). “They have united but have no ideological basis for their union. They do politics of self-interest …. and want to continue with such politics but we will bury it,” he said.
Earlier, Qureshi started the press conference by saying that today’s events had vindicated Prime Minister Imran’s stance, adding that this was not something new, but had been happening for the past several years. He went on to count his party’s attempts to ensure transparency in the electoral process, saying the PTI had invited the opposition to move towards open ballots, but “you saw the difference between what they practised and [what they] preached.” “We informed the ECP that it is your constitutional duty to ensure free and fair elections,” said Qureshi, adding that the ECP had failed to ensure transparency. “I say this because as per our fears, a video and audio surfaced a night before the elections and Fawad Chaudhry tried to knock the doors of the ECP, but there was silence there.” The minister added that it was surprising that elections were to be held the next day but no one from the ECP was available. At this point, they had an even greater responsibility to ensure transparency in the polls. “But we did not find them up to the standard.” Qureshi said that the struggle started by Prime Minister Imran is one of “good versus evil”, adding that the premier had made uncountable efforts to change the political culture.
Ehtisham Ahmad
Lahore
