LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) hopes to get 195 votes in today’s Senate election against its own strength of around 187 and defeat Khawaja Ahmed Hassan – the PML-N candidate – with a margin of over 40 votes.

This veiled threat of horse trading was delivered by Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, provincial minister for information, while talking to Dawn. The strategy for securing additional votes was finalised by the party’s parliamentary meeting late on Monday.

According to party positions, the PTI and its allies have around 187 votes against the PML-N and its allies votes of 166. According to Mr Chohan, PML-N parliamentarians were fed up with their own leadership and were ready to vote according to their conscience. “It cannot be called horse trading but people voting as per their own calculations and conscience,” he said, claiming that the PTI would certainly get around 10 additional votes and cross the figure of 195.

He dispelled the impression that the PTI feared clout of the PML-N candidate denting the PTI vote bank in the Punjab Assembly and had a chance of delivering surprise. “The parliamentary party meeting was not meant to secure its own votes but to strategize and ensure win,” he insisted.

“It was not a meeting as such but just a dinner get-together where it was decided who would bring who and how to ensure full participation, without losing any vote. The PML-N lost some of its votes in the last election and only helped Chaudhry Sarwar of the PTI win with a big margin. The PTI just wants to avoid such possibility and met to cover all flanks for the Senate election, which fell vacant after Mr Sarwar was inducted as governor of the Punjab,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd , 2018