MULTAN, Feb 06 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said the Senate polls through open ballot would discourage sale and purchase of votes and bring transparency in the election process.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government wanted to introduce a transparent system which would abolish the avenues of corruption in the Senate polls on permanent basis, he said addressing the people during inaugural ceremonies of uplift schemes here in union councils 47, 49 and 50.
The government, he said, had also sought the opinion of Supreme Court regarding the open balloting for Senate polls.
The minister said both the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had in section 23 of Charter of Democracy (CoD) agreed to ensure open ballot in the Senate polls, but they were opposing the government on that count.
Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan would not compromise on corruption. It was the PTI which had expelled its 20 members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for selling their votes in the last Senate election, he added.
He said the party lacked two-third majority in the Parliament for legislation on open ballot in Senate polls.
The minister said the masses had rejected the narrative of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and its constituent parties were now seeking a way out to satisfy their its workers and also stay relevant politically.
He said the people had voted the PTI to power in the last elections, and now the country was moving forward on the path of progress and development.
Qureshi said PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz had ‘Imran phobia’. The PTI government was not afraid of any protest demonstration or long march, and would compromise with looters.
Nawaz Sharif, he said, had invited Narendra Modi on his grand-daughter’s marriage.
He (Nawaz) had betrayed the Kashmiris a,d it was strange that his daughter Maryam was talking about the Kashmiris, he added.
The minister said Pakistan wanted a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue. “We want to keep the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir safe from the atrocities of Indian occupation forces.”
He urged the international bodies to play their role and pressure India to stop its aggression in the occupied Kashmir.
Qureshi said the country was facing inflation due to wrong policies of last regime. The PTI government, however, was trying its best to control it and provide relief to the people.The prudent policies adopted by it would start yielding positive results. Pakistan, he said, was an agricultural country,
and the government was fully focused on the sector. All-out efforts are being made to enhance agricultural production.
He said a meeting would be held at the Prime Minister’s House to discuss issues being faced by the agriculture sector. A mega package for the uplift of agriculture sector would be announced soon, he added.
Qureshi spent a busy day and inaugurated different uplift schemes worth millions of rupees. On the occasion, Multan Development Authority Chairman Rana Abdul Jabbar, Makhdoom Shoaib Akmal Hashmi, Sheikh Saleem and other notables were also present.
