Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Friday said with the defeat of Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Senate chairman’s election, the politics of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which revolvs around personal interests, has doomed.
Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House flanked by Senator Faisal Javed Khan, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan and his allies are striving to ensure transparency in the electoral process by moving a bill in the Parliament and sending a reference to the Supreme Court. He said the PM has made all-out efforts to stop misuse of money, and sale and purchase of votes in the Senate election. Accordingly, the government introduced amendments in the relevant laws in the Parliament and also approached the apex court for open balloting, but the opposition parties opposed it.
Shibli Faraz said Imran Khan desired the country to move towards progress and prosperity, by eliminating the old system which had ruined the economy, ethics and democratic norms. On the contrary, those who had opposed transparency in the electoral system were against the country’s progress, he said, adding the people should strengthen Imran Khan’s hands. Gilani’s defeat was in fact the defeat of old corrupt system, and the narrative of corrupt politicians and their promoters, the minister remarked.
He said the PDM had started its so-called movement from a long march, and then gave a deadline for resignations from the assemblies, but nothing had happened so far.
The minister said with the blessings of Allah Almighty, Sadiq Sanjrani, a brave and upright person, got a success, and those, who believed in malpractices, were humiliated with the replay their own rejected votes saga. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz should better question its own members whether they had availed the services of Ali Haider Gilani for getting their votes rejected, he added.
Shibli Faraz said the opposition parties’ corrupt practices could be judged from the fact they managed to win the Senate seat of Yousaf Raza Gillani despite minimum votes in the National Assembly. The opposition leaders were apt in the ‘art of rigging’ as they had always been adopting various methods of manipulating the election process, he added.
He said Gilani was the person who opted to get disqualified as prime minister just to protect the corruption of his leader Asif Ali Zardari. The minister was of the view that such elements should have no place in the Parliament who always kept their personal interests supreme, setting aside national interests. While contrary to it, he said, PM Imran Khan always safeguarded the public interest.
He said that the opposition had the expertise in the part of rigging and they have always been adopting various methods of manipulating the election process. To a question, he said the opposition’s claim of having a majority in Senate was incorrect as there were certain members who were independent, not part of the PML-N as claimed by the PDM.
Shibli said that they had one formula for the elections of senators and another for the elections of chairman and deputy chairman. The minister said that the PTI was on the right side of history and would defeat the corrupt mafia with the support of the people of Pakistan. He said that the PTI would emerge victorious under the leadership of Imran Khan who was known for being an upright person believing in merit and fair play. He said that former rulers were responsible for the backwardness and poverty in the country as they looted and plundered national resources.
The minister said if the government had the intention to manipulate the election it would have done in the Senate elections. He said every Pakistani knew who wanted the open ballot system and who was advocating secret ballot to perpetuate their illegal and unethical tactics.
Replying to a question, he said that it was imperative to introduce open balloting and electronic voting to end the allegations of rigging and manipulations in the electoral process. He said that the opposition candidate for chairmanship Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was destined to be defeated despite using every unfair tactic.
