LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) newly-elected Senator Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry has claimed that during the NA-75 by-elections, the District Monitoring Officer had imposed several fines on the PTI while the PML-N was never penalised; "the PTI never lodged a protest against it".
While addressing a press conference here on Friday, the PTI Central Punjab President said: "I swear that the PML-N used firearms and sticks that led to death of two persons," he added.
He accused the PML-N of using pressure tactics to twist the election results and added that throughout the counting of ballots the PML-N leaders constantly claimed victory through tweets. He averred that when the results of 14 polling stations were not released, the entire election was declared null and void, which is unprecedented. "Re-balloting should only have been held in the contentious polling stations," he added
On being elected as a Senator, Chaudhry said that he will be a voice of the common man, poor peasant minority and oppressed classes in the Senate. He was confident that on March 3 the PTI will secure a majority in the Senate.
Earlier, the PTI workers accorded a warm welcome to the Senator for being elected unopposed. While addressing the workers, he said that the PTI will fight Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) mafia which has plundered the country's resources mercilessly for decades.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister, Sardar Usman Buzdar extended felicitations to newly-elected senators of PTI and PML-Q and expressed good wishes for Saifullah Nyazee, Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhary, Aon Abbas Buppi, Dr Zarqa Taimur and Kamal Ali Aga.
He stated that the unopposed election of senators of government alliance shows successful strategy, adding that every effort of horse-trading was frustrated. "The conspiracy of repeating corrupt practices has been foiled and the unopposed election is a success of the agenda of change in the new Pakistan," he added.
According to him, the democratic norms have been strengthened and the concept of political transparency has been promoted. It is hoped that the newly-elected senators will actively perform their democratic role in the upper house of the parliament.
Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan congratulated the senators elected unopposed from Punjab and said that the election of senators in proportion to the representation by political parties is a welcome development which will help in strengthening democratic activities and parliamentary system. He expressed confidence that the PTI will also win its seats in the Senate in other provinces as per its share.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021