LAHORE: Questioning the credibility of the Senate after its recent elections and adding fuel to political fire, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Senator Sirjaul Haq on Friday claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had voted for Sadiq Sanjrani following an “order from the top.”

Talking to the media at Mansoora, he said: “Khyber Pakhtunkwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak called me some days before the Senate chairman’s election and sought JI votes for their nominee. When I asked about the name of the nominee, Khattak feigned ignorance, saying he was not aware of the name yet because the decision was coming from the top; the only thing he knew was that he (the nominee) was from Balochistan.”

KP govt spokesman rejects JI chief’s claim

The JI chief hastened to add that he did not understand what Mr Khattak meant by “from the top” — whether it was from heaven or somebody else.

His disclosure, however, was rejected by KP government spokesman Shaukat Yousufzai who said: “Sirajul Haq should not play innocent now (meaning thereby he was in the loop for everything). His party enjoyed power for five years and now he is trying to turn his back on everything.”

Amirul Azeem of the JI responded in the same coin to the statement of Mr Yousufzai, saying that he was just being emotional. “Otherwise, the JI chief has only hinted at the self-accountability that Imran Khan has been trying to promote. It is because of the JI that the PTI is completing its term in the KP.”

Precisely because of this, horse-trading and the allegations of money changing hands in the elections, the Senate had lost its moral position, Senator Haq insisted.

He said that not a few horses but the entire stable had been bought and sold and those sitting in the upper house could not see eye to eye with each other because of this moral compromise.

But Senator Haq also insisted that if those who sold their souls and votes were guilty, so were those who purchased them. “Only exposing the commodity is not enough, the purchasers should also be exposed as they are equally guilty.”

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018