Senate elections: PTI condemns acts of 'horse trading'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Friday condemned the alleged efforts of horse-trading in the upcoming Senate elections and announced that the party's parliamentary board will decide about awarding tickets to its candidates for the next month election of the Upper House. This was decided in the party's core committee meeting chaired by Chairman PTI Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence in which the country's prevailing political situation was also discussed in detail, according to the party's media office.
It stated that the meeting discussed the party's strategy for awarding tickets to the party's candidates in the upcoming Senate elections scheduled for March 03 and it was decided that the parliamentary board will decide on the applications to be submitted to it with regard the award of tickets to candidates. The meeting also expressed serious concern and condemned the alleged efforts of horse-trading in the Senate elections.
The committee also discussed the PTI's application before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with regard to the alleged corruption of Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and demanded the anti-graft body to take an early decision on the application. The meeting also deliberated upon the ongoing cases against the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and demanded that the decision in his cases should be made within the given timeframe of six months by the apex court. It also decided to keep an eye on Nawaz Sharif's cases in the trial court.
On the issue of NAB taking notice of Khan's using helicopter of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, it stated that the meeting welcomed it and also demanded that the NAB should conduct probe into the use of helicopters and planes in rest of the provinces. It was also decided that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will respond to the NAB's notice taken against the PTI chairman for using the government's helicopter.
"Khan has never used helicopter for a single minute for his personal use," it stated, adding that investigation should also be conducted against Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra for using helicopters. The meeting also condemned the "well though-out conspiracy" against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and its police and the participants reposed confidence in the performance of the provincial government and its police.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak told the meeting that culprits involved in Kohat and Mardan incidents would be arrested soon. "We cannot befool the people the way Punjab and Sindh governments have done by the paper works and arrest of 'fake' culprits," Khattak told the meeting. The meeting also decided to nominate Ali Mohammad Khan as the official spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. The meeting also decided to constitute three committees including media committee, legal committee and anti-corruption committee.