Bold plan: K-P won’t stop traffic for PM’s motorcade, says Imran

PTI jubilant over massive victory in NA-154 Lodhran

BAHAWALPUR:

A day after a 10-month old child lost her life due to security protocol in place for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Karachi, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief announced that his party was abolishing VIP culture in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“I will have a meeting with Pervez Khattak in Islamabad and we will end VIP culture in K-P,” he announced during a rally in Lodhran on Thursday.

Imran added that just like the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar had united the nation against terrorism, the death of the 10-month-old girl had united the public against VIP protocols.

“Traffic will no longer be stopped, even for the prime minister.” His announcements were swiftly followed by a formal announcement from the K-P government on the subject ending VIP protocols across the province.

K-P Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani said that they already do not block any routes, but will continue providing two vehicles for security of ministers.



Lodhran rejected Rs2.5b bribe to elect Tareen

Hours after it was announced that PTI general secretary Jahangir Tareen was the winner in NA-154 by-polls in Lodhran, the party’s chief Imran Khan thanked the residents of the area for helping them beat both the provincial and the federal government.

“I have come to congratulate you all because you have successfully competed against the provincial and central government and you rejected the Rs2.5 billion ‘bribe’ offered by them,” Imran told a large victory rally in Lohran on Thursday afternoon.

“You have proved that your morality is not for sale.”  Imran visited Lodhran on Thursday after Tareen romped home to victory, beating the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Siddique Khan Baloch by a massive margin of 40,000 votes with a 55 per cent turnout in the constituency.

Having previously voiced fears that the government would reverse the Rs2.5 billion package if the PML-N candidate lost the election, the PTI chief exhorted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to honour his vow and fulfil the package. He lashed out at the status quo parties, including PML-N, PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), whom he blamed for resisting change in the electoral system. But the PTI chief vowed to continue the fight for a new system.

“I know how to fight; to fall down and to get back up again.”

Imran also had a few words for the PPP and the MQM, accusing them of trying to block the war against terrorism just to protect their militant wings and corruption.

ECP warned

Imran also reserved some criticism for the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Addressing the Chief Election Commissioner, he said that the case of Aleem Khan’s loss to NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in NA-122 would soon be up for review before the commission. Imran added that they still did not know how 26,000 new votes were added to the constituency when only 812 new votes were present on record while Aleem lost by a couple of thousand votes.

“If you place this case before the election tribunal, we will not waste two more years in the tribunal, we will go to the Supreme Court to get justice.”

The PTI chief also pointed out Wednesday’s results in Lodhran.  “In Lodhran, PML-N swept the local government elections just a few weeks ago, but lost by 40,000 votes in the NA-154 by-polls.”

The difference in the two elections Imran said was that PML-N officials and patwaris had held the local government polls with the ECP secretary admitting they were unable to hold elections properly in Punjab and Sindh.  On the other hand, Imran said the army had conducted the NA-154 by-election.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2015.