ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said on Thursday that his party would expel lawmakers who sold out their votes in the Senate elections.
“We will not tolerate such practices in our party and will ensure strict against wrong doers,” he said, while talking to media after chairing the party’s central executive committee meeting.
He said the party was in consultation with lawyers to figure out how to challenge outcome of the Senate polls in the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa province.
With regards to the demand of a separate province in south Punjab, Imran said he supported the move and added that had local governments been empowered enough there would have been no need for such a demand to begin with.
“We brought the Senate chairman from Balochistan to strengthen the federation,” he said, adding that the party was striving for FATA to get its rights.
Khan added that the people of Pakistan were pleased with the recent decisions of the Supreme Court. Imran questioned the government’s decision to present federal budget for the next fiscal year when it was about to end its five-year term.
“The government’s term is ending in 45 days, but it is presenting next year’s budget,” he complained, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak will not present the province’s budget.
Imran also praised the apex court’s decision granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and condemned his political opponent Fazlur Rehman’s statement regarding the verdict.
Talking about caretaker governments, he said they must be brought in Pakistan carefully as there was a fear of rigging in the upcoming election. He claimed that the last caretaker government had failed to ensure free and fair elections. He said that the party meeting had decided to initiate the election campaign from Lahore and the first public gathering of the campaign would be held at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore, on April 29.
Imran blamed the PML-N and its coalition partners JUI-F and PkMAP for hindering in the process of merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with KP.
“It is due to Nawaz Sharif, Moulana Fazlur Rehman and Mehmood Achakzai, who had created hindrances in merging FATA with KP,” he said and supported the move to merge FATA with the province, a demanded that was supported by top political parties and the military brass.
Referring to the court proceedings against Nawaz Sharif, Imran said that for the first time, judiciary had tried to nab top corrupt people of the country and the entire nation stood with them in their efforts to purge the society from corrupt practices.
Speaking on the reports of the cleaning of barracks at the Adiala Jail, Imran asked why was there a need to clean the barrack? He said when the poor were sent to prison on petty crimes, they had to live in worst conditions. “The cleaning process has begun in fear that Nawaz might have to spend time there,” he said.
Speaking on the interim government, he said that the interim setup should be acceptable to all parties as it would oversee the country’s next democratic transition.
Speaking on the budget for the next fiscal year, Imran said that the incumbent government was not mandated to pass the budget for the next fiscal year and he had also directed the KP government to pass the budget for initial months rather than the fiscal year.
Published in Daily Times, April 13th 2018.
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