ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday that his party had not entered into an alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party for the election of Senate chairman, nor would it collaborate with the PPP to secure the seat of opposition leader in the upper house of parliament.

“The PPP, PTI and independent senators from Balochistan were not capable of getting their candidates elected so we decided to cooperate with each other and support a joint candidate. In the current situation it would have been dangerous for parliament and system had the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) gotten its candidate elected as the Senate chairman,” Mr Qureshi said while talking to journalists outside the Parliament House.

He said the people of Balochistan had always been deprived of their due rights so the PTI had suggested that a candidate from Balochistan should be supported in the Senate elections.

In reply to a question, he said that in the past even though the PPP had supported the government, it had become annoyed with the betrayal of the PML-N. This was why the PPP had decided to pull back its support, he said, adding that even senators from Balochistan were against the PML-N. “We did not have a coalition with the PPP. It was just a compromise over the issue of Balochistan. We have our own identity so we have decided to have our own candidate for the seat of opposition leader in the Senate,” said Mr Qureshi.

He said the PTI believed in the democratic process but it would not object if PPP’s candidate Sherry Rehman became the opposition leader.

PTI vice chairperson says party won’t object if PPP’s Sherry Rehman becomes opposition leader

Answering a question about alleged horse-trading during the Senate elections, he said the PTI would cooperate with the Election Commission of Pakistan, adding that his party would also take action against parliamentarians involved in horse-trading.

Separately, the PTI wrote letters on Friday to the heads of the National Assembly and Senate to get the resignations of MNA Kulsoom Nawaz and Senator Ishaq Dar as they had failed to take the oath.

In a letter addressed to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, PTI’s central information secretary Fawad Chaudhry stated that MNA Kulsoom Nawaz, owing to her illness, was not able to participate in political activities due to which tens of thousands of voters had been suffering as their issues could not be highlighted.

The letter suggests that the law regarding oath-taking should be changed and MNA Kulsoom Nawaz should be advised to resign.

In another letter to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Mr Chaudhry stated that Mr Dar faced charges of corruption and had been declared a proclaimed offender. It was illogical and unethical to get him elected as senator, said the letter, requesting the Senate chairman to get Mr Dar’s resignation.

The PTI has announced that it will launch a countrywide election campaign from April 29. The campaign will start from a public meeting in Lahore. The PTI has nominated Senator Azam Khan Swati as its candidate for the seat of opposition leader in the Senate.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018