ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Reiterating his firm stance of not giving NRO to corrupt elements despite their blackmailing, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he is not afraid of losing power as he has no monetary interests.
In his televised address to the nation on Thursday evening, the prime minister said that the opposition wants to exert pressure on the government in order to get relief from corruption cases instituted against them by the previous governments.
The prime minister said that he will take a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday in open ballot which should be the standard practice. He said that no matter whether he remains in power or sits on the opposition benches, he won’t spare anyone who has plundered the national exchequer.
“Being in the opposition, I will mobilize the people and bring them on roads against the corrupt rulers,” he said.
Referring to the recent Senate Elections, the prime minister said that unfortunately, it has been a practice to use money in buying the loyalties of members of the Parliament in this august House.
Imran Khan said that money was used in order to win the seat for the PDM leader Yousaf Raza Gillani. He said that despite all the maneuverings of the opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has become the largest party in the Upper House of Parliament due to the number of seats it won.
The prime minister said that withdrawing from their initial stance of favoring open ballot in the Senate Elections as enshrined in the Charter of Democracy, the two bigger parties Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) this time were in favor of secret ballot so that they could buy the loyalties of members of the Parliament.
While addressing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said that the secret ballot has damaged the democracy in the Country. He said that as per the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, ECP could have employed the latest technology in order to know who the turncoats in the Senate Elections were.
“Conducting the Senate Elections through secret ballot and not initiating any action against the malpractices by the ECP has harmed democracy,” Imran Khan said.
Imran Khan also regretted that some media persons went to the Courts for the defense of corrupt people.
