ISLAMABAD: Reacting to the press release issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over allegations raised by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Friday said that press release statement response seems ‘inappropriate.”
Addressing a press conference along with the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz and Senator-elect Barrister Ali Zafar, Fawad said that the federal government respects every state institution of the country including the ECP.
“ECP is respectable to us and will remain so,” said Fawad and added that institutions show their impartiality through practical steps, not through press releases.
PM said that horse-trading during Senate polls was not stopped. Was that the matter of shame for ECP? asked Fawad.
The minister, while extending every possible support to the ECP, urged for a joint mechanism devised by the ECP and the government to stop rigging in the polls.
“I want to assure the chief election commissioner (CEC) and members that we want to see you strong,” said Fawad.
He said that the directions of the Supreme Court (SC) for holding fair and free Senate elections were neglected by the ECP. We are not planning to hold any protest in front of the supreme electoral body, Fawad added.
He said that the evidence was there in the form of “videos of vote-buying, Sindh Information Minister Nasir Shah’s audio, and Maryam Nawaz’s speech”.
The minister hoped that the ECP will “reviews its stance and not rely on press releases”. He added that he rather expected the ECP to “prove its independence through its actions”.
“From Daska elections till Senate elections you have to realise that there have been shortcomings and it cannot be said that all that has happened is correct,” said Fawad, adding that if the ECP requires the government’s help, then it is “available 24/7”.
Speaking on the occasion, Faraz said that the scourge of corruption was introduced in politics after 1985 party-less elections when the persons like Nawaz had entered the political arena.
The society’s social and ethical values, he said, were destroyed and importance was given to accumulating wealth instead of protecting the people’s interests.
Both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were responsible for moral degradation in the political culture and democratic values, ruining economy, and undermining the credibility of traditional institutions, he maintained.
The minister said that Prime Minister Imran joined politics with the slogan to end corrupt practices like horse-trading, use of money and bullying.
He stressed that elections are the essence of democracy. A building could not be erected properly if its foundation was faulty; with transparency in the electoral process, the image of institutions and parliamentarians could be restored, he added.
Faraz said that the PTI did strive to materialize the PM’s narrative about transparent elections by introducing the bill in the National Assembly (NA), and sending a presidential reference to the SC for guidance for open balloting in the Senate polls.
He explained that on one side there was PM Imran, the torch-bearer of hope and truth, and on the other there were the harbingers of ‘darkness’. The results of recent Senate elections had vindicated the prime minister’s stance.
Replying to the questions from the media-persons, he said that the PTI had expelled its members of the provincial assembly for violation of party discipline in the 2018 Senate elections. He added that the media should ask the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties as to how many members they had expelled on that count.
The PTI’s struggle, he said, was for purging the system of corruption for the coming generations keeping political considerations aside.
He maintained that the prime minister’s decision to take a fresh vote of confidence proved that values were more important for him than power, and no such example existed in the country’s political history .
He also said that PM Imran was fighting against those who had plundered the national resources, and every upright and honest person stood by him in that struggle.
The minister said that one had to face odds and difficulties in the fight for truth, but it was more important as to who stood firm on their stance.
He underscored that Prime Minister Imran, as an individual, started his struggle against the status quo and now with the grace of Allah Almighty, the PTI was the single largest party in both the National Assembly (NA) and the Senate.
Faraz said that the opposition leaders considered those elections fair and free which they won and, otherwise, the polls were termed unfair and rigged. Whereas the PTI leadership had the clear stance that objections would be raised if elections were not free, he added.
To a question, he said that the PML-N had made a ludicrous claim that they had offered party tickets to the PTI members for voting for the PDM candidate Yousuf Raza Gillani. The PML-N ticket had no value in comparison to that of the PTI, he said, and further implied that PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had used the word ‘ticket’ as stand-in for ‘currency notes’.
It was also a matter of disappointment that PPP Chairmain Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, despite being an educated person, was giving justifications for corruption, he added.
They were the people, who made victory signs while coming out of jail for court proceedings in corruption cases, and PM Imran was fighting against that mindset, the minister remarked.
About the incumbent Sadiq Sanjrani nomination for the Senate chairmanship, Faraz said that the PTI leadership took the decision after consultations with the allied parties.
Sanjarani belonged to Balochistan and the government wanted that province’s representation in the federation as the NA speaker belonged to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the PM to Punjab, and the president belonged to Sindh, he added.
Another reason for Sanjrani’s nomination was his performance of the past three years as Senate chairman as he was a popular figure who had run the House in a very efficient manner, he further said.
