LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday accused Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Sharjeel Memon and Nasir Hussain Shah of trying to bribe the party MPAs ahead of the trust vote in the Punjab Assembly likely to be taken by CM Parvez Elahi before Jan 11.

Mr Chaudhry told media persons that the former ruling party would ask PA Speaker Sibtain Khan to send a reference against the PPP lawmakers from Sindh to the Election Commission of Pakistan seeking their disqualification in light of allegations levelled against them by PTI leaders Rashda Begum and Farhat Farooq. The PTI leader claimed that Ms Farooq and Rashda Begum had made statements in the media that the PPP leaders had tried to bribe them with “lucrative sums of cash” to skip the trust vote.

Mr Chaudhry said the PTI had already disqualified its MPA from Rahim Yar Khan, Khawaja Masood, for failing to poll his vote for the incumbent chief minister during his election as the chief minister. “PTI Chairman Imran Khan has completed all legal formalities and asked the Punjab Assembly speaker to send a disqualification reference against Khawaja Masood to the ECP for formal disqualification notification,” he said.

Also plans legal action against chief election commissioner

Reference against CEC

The former information minister said the PTI had also decided to file another reference against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. He said the party would approach the court against the ECP chief as well.

Chiding the ECP for not holding local government elections in Islamabad, Mr Chaudhry said the commission had become a “subsidiary of the federal government” and both Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and CEC Mr Raja had “blatantly attacked” the Constitution and the judicial system. He said PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry had also filed a reference against the CEC with the Supreme Judicial Council.

Answering a question, he said the PTI would contest elections under the existing ECP as it had contested two separate by-elections and defeated the ruling coalition despite alleged rigging by the election watchdog.

Commenting on the political and security situation in the country, the former information minister said the seriousness of the rulers and powers-that-be could be gauged from the fact that the National Security Committee (NSC) did not even call Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, whose province is the major victim of terrorism, to the NSC meeting.

Also, the PTI would launch White Paper on the economy on Tuesday (Jan 3) as well as on human rights and rule of law on Thursday (Jan 5), Mr Chaudhry said.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2023