Interior minister warns PTI chief against rioting on voting day

Minister alleges PTI leaders sheltering 500 rioters in their homes in Punjab

ISLAMABAD:

As the government and electoral watchdog shore up security ahead of Punjab by-elections, Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Saturday warned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and his party against resorting to "rioting" on Sunday’s heated polls.

The PML-N leader’s stern warning for the arch-rival came in a video message ahead of the July 17 by-

polls for the 20 seats that fell vacant in the Punjab Assembly following the de-seating of 25 MPAs of the PTI by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Both PML-N and PTI have rolled up their sleeves to slug it out in the political heartland.

Sanaullah claimed the former premier has already lost the election but was now “gearing up to fight the people”.

“Imran and his tigers should stay within the law,” the interior minister warned, adding that the law would spring into action if a repetition of the events of the Daska election occurred.

The minister alleged that it was reported that the PTI has summoned more than 500 rioters to Punjab with the intention of triggering chaos in the by-elections, and there was a plan for them to fight the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

“Pervaiz Khattak, Asad Qaisar Ali Muhammad Khan and Murad Saeed are providing shelter to these rioters,” he stated, adding that those who violated the law or orders of the Election Commission will be made to face the law.

Read Campaigning ends as Imran, Maryam enter home stretch of Punjab by-polls

Sanaullah maintained that Imran would be held responsible for any bullying or violence from the “PTI tigers”.

He further said that those who looted the people throughout the past four years in power would not be allowed to steal the mandate of the 20 Punjab constituencies.

“Imran's politics is over,” he stated, adding that the public would perform its burial rituals through voting [for the PML-N] in the 20 constituencies.

The minister ensured that a clean, transparent and peaceful election would take place.

Punjab by-elections

It may be noted here that the by-elections in 20 Punjab Assembly constituencies had gained further political weightage in sealing the fate of the provincial administration in the wake of the SC's order to postpone the second round of elections for Punjab chief minister to July 22.

Furthermore, the outcome of the elections in the country's political heartland will have a direct bearing on the Centre.

The development had altered all previous careful political calculations and seemingly granted PTI's candidate Pervez Elahi a much-needed breather, who otherwise had no fighting chance if voting had proceeded as per Lahore High Court's (LHC) orders.

The PML-N currently enjoys an advantage of four more votes in the Punjab Assembly even though the PTI bagged five seats in the PA after the Election Commission (ECP) issued notifications of reserved seats.