ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)’s presidential candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai said that the country has witnessed “first of its kind poll” for the coveted post without “horse-trading” in which he contested the joint candidate of ruling coalition, Asif Ali Zardari.
Achakzai, Saturday, talking to media outside the Parliament said, “It was a unique election in which “horse-trading” was not witnessed. As presidential election results poured in from all legislative assemblies, I congratulate Zardari on becoming the President of Pakistan for a second term. He termed it the “beginning of a new era” as it was a “rare” poll which was held in a good environment.” Achakzai thanked the PTI-backed lawmakers for voting in his support; however, he specifically complained about the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the National Party (NP) for not casting their votes despite announcing to sit in the opposition.
He said, “In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), all 90 lawmakers voted for me. The PTI lawmakers cast their ballots for me in the presence of cameras. A good trend has been set [...] next matters would be discussed in the parliament,” He criticised Dr Abdul Malik for promising to vote for him and backtracking later.
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He said that we have to respect the decision of the nation that voted for one party. He said that the political parties also have to support each other in the national interests in testing times and for democracy. However, he opposed taking parliamentary conflicts to the judiciary.
Answering a question about JUI-F’s decision to not take part in the presidential poll, Achakzai said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had seemingly fallen asleep.
He said that the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan was his friend since the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
“However, in the past, I took parliament’s side after distancing myself from the PTI founder after an attack on the Parliament, and other events,” Achakzai said while pointing towards the May 9 riots without mentioning them. He added that he is ready to render any sacrifice for the sanctity of the parliament.
He said that nobody could oppose the fact that the Imran Khan-founded party won several seats in the general elections in 2024. He stressed finding a constitutional solution to allocate reserved seats to the PTI-backed candidates, and refrain from exercising any illegal move which deprives constitutional rights of the women, and minorities for their representation in the assemblies.
Talking to journalists outside parliament house, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the election of Asif Ali Zardari as president of the country is not a good omen for the country’s democracy.
He said that occupying the constitutional posts via illegal means is tantamount to the abrogation of the constitution.
“Zardari is not the king of reconciliation rather he is enslaved to his vested interests,” he added.
Similarly, other PTI leaders including Omar Ayub Khan and Latif Khosa termed the presidential election as “illegal”.
“Today’s election is the murder of democracy. The stolen mandate should be returned to the people,” Khosa said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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