Federal planning Minister Asad Umar said that Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf government wanted to end the corrupt practice of horse trading once and for all in the Senate elections.
The minister's comments came during a press conference with Information Secretary Shibli Faraz, where ministers showed a recent video of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers trading ahead of the 2018 senatorial election.
You should all have seen this video that was circulated today before the 2018 elections. For this reason, we felt it necessary to reiterate the importance of Senate election reform," added Umar.
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He stated that democracy is not strengthened by the barrel of the gun, but rather takes its power from public trust. "Democracy works when the people who sit in the meetings trust the people who voted for them," he added.
The PTI minister then turned down Pakistan's Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) saying that the process initiated by Chhanga Manga would continue to this day. He said the same parties that signed the Charter for Democracy, which required transparency in Senate elections, are now against the same reforms.
Umar added that the Senate amendment introduced today only targets those who use their power and money to influence electoral processes.
We have contacted the SC about the Senate votes but we have considered introducing the presidential ordinance as it has not yet made a decision on the matter and is nearing the election date for the Senate," said Asad Umar. He also reiterated PTI's position that the party would respect Apex Court's decision in this case.
To end the trading, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a petition to change the Senate elections mechanism with a open balloting system.
Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted about the horse trading leak video, he said it is an shame full act where the lawmakers spend money to get power after getting the power these guys rob the nation money by manipulating Media, Bureacrates , and decision makers with power.
This is what the PDM cabal wants to now protect by supporting a corruption-friendly system. We are determined to stop this cycle of corruption & money laundering that is debilitating the nation.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 9, 2021
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said they are going to represent this video as evidence of corruption in Senate elections.
