Election phase: Eliminating bogus votes ended electoral rigging, says PM

PM says they are now in election phase and every step has been taken to ensure free, fair elections in country.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday said that with elimination of large number of bogus votes, the hopes of those desiring to manipulate results in the forthcoming general election had been quashed.

Addressing workers of Pakistan Peoples Party from Rawalpindi Division who had called on the premier at the PM House, Ashraf said that, “we have entered the election phase and every step has been taken to ensure free and fair election in the country”.

Ashraf said the democratic government for very first time in the country’s history was nearing completion of its five-year tenure which is unbelievable for some. They are perplexed how this has been made possible, he added.

Commenting on the coalition government formed following the 2008 elections, the prime minister said the PPP had won 124 seats when it required 172 to form the government, the party decided to take a course that was in the interest of the nation and formed alliances. The decision was taken to share power even in Sindh where it had the majority could have formed its own government.

Ashraf asserted that not a single politician has been arrested nor has any pressure been made to bear on any political party. We have tried to maintain good working relations with all political parties, he added.

The premier recalled that when the PPP took power, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) Ishaq Dar was the Finance Minister, he felt then that the financial situation was so grave that it would be difficult to steer the country. The country was importing wheat and had foreign reserves for only a few week. However, today, the country was in a much better position.

He said keeping aside personal interests, the PPP formed coalition governments at the centre and in provinces to save democracy. He termed it an ‘unprecedented political chapter’ in the country’s history.

Prime Minister Ashraf urged the PPP workers of Rawalpindi Division to hold a large gathering at Benazir Bhutto Bagh on December 27 to pay tributes to her on her death anniversary.