‘Scrap Senate elections, send senators packing’

Abbasi says Senate seats were bought and sold

LAHORE : Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the recent Senate elections should be scrapped and the senators who bought their way to the parliament should be sent packing.

“I have said it before and I will say it again that we reject these Senate elections that were contested with the power of money,” said the Prime Minister Abbasi while addressing an inauguration ceremony of Chaudhry Abdul Hameed Cardiology Centre at District Headquarters Hospital and two high-pressure gas pipelines of 12 and 16 inches in diameter each for Sargodha city on Friday.

He was flanked by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister of State Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha and Special Assistant to the PM Dr Mussadiq Malik, MNA Dr Zulfiqar Bhatri and MPA Abdur Razzaq.

He criticised his party’s political opponents and reiterated that they (PML-N) do not expect any justice from the accountability courts.

On National Accountability Bureau trials, the premier said that all allegations against Nawaz Sharif were baseless and fictitious. “There is no evidence or a witness to testify,” he said, adding that no one alleged corruption nor produced any evidence but the decision of the court to disqualify Sharif was implemented forthwith.

He said, “We accepted this decision, but will history accept this decision is another question altogether.”

He said that these were the same courts that had held Sharif accountable for plane hijacking. He said, “Such a decision, where a country’s head is disqualified over possessing an Iqama, creates hurdles in the country’s progress.”

“Despite facing all the difficulties, our five-year performance has no parallel in the country as we have produced over 10,000 MW of electricity during our tenure, which is nearly half of what Pakistan produced since its independence,” said Abbasi. “We have also ended gas shortage in the country and upped our economic growth rate from 3% to 5.7%.”

He said that opponents seemed troubled by his statement regarding Senate elections.

Reiterating allegations regarding the Senate election, he asked, “Can the PTI chief Imran Khan or PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari claim that money was not used in these elections? Can Imran claim that his MPAs were not bought? Can the Senate chairman claim that no money was spent to win him the chairmanship and that no senator was bought to pave the way for his victory.”

He said, “We need to bury such money-driven elections. People winning seats with the power of money will not serve the country but will serve their own masters or protect their own interests.”

He said that Imran forgot that he had alleged that Zardari bought 14 of his MPAs for the Senate elections, but when it came to the Senate chairmanship, his votes aligned with Zardari. “What irony,” Abbasi added.

He said that his meeting with the chief justice was also another happening unnerving his opponents.

He said his opponent, alluding to Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khursheed Shah, alleged that it was a bad-timed meeting. “If the head of state meets the head of the judiciary, what’s wrong with it? Sitting in isolation will not resolve our country’s issues,” he said, adding that no personnel issues were discussed in the meeting with the CJP.

He said that the meeting lasted for two hours where a number of issues were discussed and hoped that the CJP understood his submissions.

“If someone has a problem with me going as a complainant to the CJP then my answer is yes I am a complainant of the country,” he said.

He said, “The government will successfully complete its tenure despite all odds and speculation. Victory in general elections will prove that we have delivered to the people.”

He said that all previous governments could have delivered “but they lacked the will to do so”.

Towards the end of his speech, he warned that those politicians who switch parties always end up as losers.