Arrests of politicians before polls: Senators raise doubts about holding of fair, free elections

ISLAMABAD: The members of the Senate belonging to PML-N, PPP and other political parties on Monday raised doubts about fairness and transparency of the upcoming general elections while referring to arrests of politicians, alleging that hurdles were also being created in their election campaign.

Leader of the House in the Senate, Senator Raja Zafarul Haq questioned the neutrality of caretaker about ensuring free and fair elections, saying the caretakers were acting as silent spectator over arrests of politicians with little over two weeks left to the polling day.

The proceedings also witnessed walkout by the lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) when Senator Usman Kakar of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party dubbed PTI as Askari Party. We all know the Askari Party is going to win the polls, he added.

The PTI members while staging walkout demanded of the chair to expunge remarks of Senator Usman Kakar. Earlier speaking on a point of order, Raja Zafarul Haq, said that the way development were taking place like verdict of the accountability court, arrests and registration of FIRs against politicians, were enough to show that the country was moving towards engineered polls.

He said that Senator Tanveer was stopped in Islamabad on his way to the Parliament House as a sticker regarding election campaign was pasted on his vehicle. He also regretted that FIRs have also been registered against politicians for taking out a rally in support of Captain (R) Safdar.

He said the Senate of Pakistan should play its role in ensuring fair and free elections suggesting the House should remain in session till end of the election process so that it could continue taking notice of discriminatory actions.

Senator Sherry Rehman, the Opposition Leader in Senate, said that elections are becoming controversial, as leaders of political parties being barred from addressing public rallies. She said that all the political parties should be given level playing field but instead the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was twice stopped from addressing a rally once in Lyari and on Monday in Rahimyar Khan. She observed religious political parties have been allowed to contest elections by removing their names from the forth schedule, which is matter of concern. Senator Tanveer said that his only fault was that he took out a rally in support of Captain (R) Safdar and three FIRs were registered against him in different police stations of Rawalpindi.

Senator Sadia Abbasi, who is the sister of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said how anybody could call Nawaz Sharif and his daughter as criminal as they have the legal right to appeal.

Senator Dr Musadik Malik who also remained spokesman of Nawaz Sharif before his disqualification complained why every politician who quits PML-N is allotted the election symbol of jeep – the symbol on which dissident PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is contesting elections. “We just want to know who is sitting on the driving seat,” he asked.