PTI supports polls under army supervision

Says they will be held in free, transparent manner if overseen by the military

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said it was the demand of the entire nation that General Elections be held under the army’s supervision.

Addressing party workers at the election office of PTI leaders Shafqat Mahmood and Murad Rass on Sunday, he stressed that general elections will be held in a fair and transparent manner under the army’s watch.



He said the Pakistan Army had supervised by-elections and local government polls in the past so this is nothing new. He added Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) defeat in the upcoming election would be a result of its own corruption.

Sarwar said both PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have recognised that the people of the country are not in their favour due to their “corruption and wrongdoings”.

The PTI senator said his party would never support rigging of any kind as free, fair and transparent elections were necessary to strengthen democracy and institutions in the country. He said his party would win the general elections through public vote and Imran Khan would be the next prime minister of the country.

He added PTI had always supported free and fair elections in the country. “Political parties, which have come into power through rigging and other unfair means, are today accusing others of such practices to defend their defeat in the upcoming elections.”

He said the PTI wanted to assure the people of Pakistan that after coming into power, the party would eradicate corruption, poverty and injustice from the country. .

PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood accused the former rulers of the “current crisis-like situation in the country”.

“The nation is fed up of the corruption and wrongdoings of former rulers. That is why they have decided to support change by voting in favour of PTI.”

He also underscored that his party was confident of its victory in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, Murad Rass said Khan was coming into power to rein in inflation, poverty, unemployment and other basic problems of common citizens. “On July 25, the bat will sweep [the elections] as the entire nation has been teamed up against corruption and rejected the lions and arrows.”

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Babar Yaqoob highlighted that around 450,000 police personnel and 350,000 officers and soldiers of the army will perform security duties. The ECP has declared 20,000 polling stations across Punjab as sensitive and CCTV will be installed at 18,000 of these.



The leaderships of PML-N and PPP continuously claimed that their candidates were being sidelined and not provided a level playing for the elections.

Both sides alleged that the sudden wave of terrorism and other developments clearly showed that some forces wanted to keep the two mainstream political parties out of the election race.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2018.