On Wednesday, the opposition parties in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) lambasted Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying they should be asked why they did not want to avoid horse dealing in the Senate polls while being in power for 30 years.
After attending a ceremony for the second phase of the Ehsaas Kafalat Project at Kallar Syedan Tehsil in Rawalpindi, the premier addressed the journalists. “When the political leadership [of the opposition] knows that money is traded [for Senate elections], why didn’t they make an effort to change it [the system]?” the prime minister said. ‘Because they make money off it themselves,’ he said.
These criminals, who call themselves lawmakers and made a union in the PDM to cover their greed, should all be challenged… your parties have been in office for thirty years, why haven’t you managed to stop them [the horse trading in the Senate polls]?
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Furthermore, the prime minister said that he himself was paid money several times for a Senate seat “not just from one person but from many people” He said that members of his parliamentary board have received similar offers and the actual estimated price ranged from Rs500-700 million for being a Balochistan senator.
He said that when lawmakers come to the Senate after investing those large sums, instead of representing the role or province in any substantive manner, they look to return the number.
“Do we want to hold [Senate] elections according to this same system when we know there is a money market set with rates for politicians?” asked the premier rhetorically. When it was explicitly specified in their Charter of Democracy, he wondered why the PPP and PML-N had backtracked from their stand on free balloting.
It is better for the government to win more representatives than our seats [in the Senate elections],” but despite that, he said, the PTI called for an open vote. “These same people [the opposition] would weep if the PTI gets more senators than its seats,” he alleged.”
The prime minister also discussed Pakistan’s recent win in the test series against South Africa and confessed that in his schedule, “I didn’t get to see the match” he didn’t have much time for cricket. He said the basic cricket system in Pakistan needed improvement before but it has now been fixed. “Now they’re going to build on it to polish our talent, it’s going to take some time but then our.
Ordinance for open Senate vote promulgated
On Saturday, the government passed a presidential order to allow changes to the Election Act, 2017, to conduct Senate polls by free voting.
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Since efforts by the government to pass the 26th Constitution Amendment Bill in the National Assembly failed to make headway, the ordinance was enacted.
It notes that the president was pleased that “circumstances exist” that make the order appropriate for urgent action to be taken. The ordinance came into force at once, according to its clauses, and spread to the entire of Pakistan.
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