LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan welcomed the Islamabad High Court’s order to hold local body elections in the federal capital; “as a result of this decision, the people of Islamabad will now be able to elect their local government through voting”.
In a video message released here on Friday, the former prime minister alleged that it was unfortunate for the country that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has joined the “corrupt gang” (referring to the coalition parties) imposed on the country.
“The Election Commission always took decisions against democracy by supporting these thieves. However, the honourable courts always rejected the illegal decisions of the Election Commission,” he claimed.
He further claimed that the “corrupt group” was afraid of the people and hence they always avoided the elections; “their only focus was to maintain their grip on the country”.
“They use their ill-gotten money to buy loyalties and subsequently keep their control over the country. However, the people have rejected this mafia,” he added.
He urged the people of Islamabad to participate in the local bodies elections on Saturday (today) and he was hopeful that they will defeat this corrupt group.
Earlier, the PTI’s senior leaders, including PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhary, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sabtain Khan and former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, met the PTI chairman and discussed the current political situation in the country and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s involvement in horse-trading.
Sources disclosed that during the meeting, Khan decided to file a complaint in a police station and the ECP against bribes being offered to the PTI leaders.
Meanwhile while talking to the media after meeting the PTI chairman, Punjab Senior Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Ali Haider Zadi accused PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari of offering bribes to the PTI legislators in exchange for their loyalties, adding that Zardari has again come to Punjab in a pursuit to allure the PTI parliamentarians in his camp.
“This time, he has come with his ministers and set up a ‘cattle market’,” they added. They also claimed that one of their provincial legislators was intimidated; “you cannot threaten our MPAs and we will give them the security”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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