After failure, Opposition attempting to buy out PTI lawmakers, claims PM Imran Khan

KAMRA: The Opposition parties, after failing at numerous fronts, has been attempting to buy out the PTI's lawmakers, Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed in his speech Friday, ahead of the 2021 Senate elections.

Referring to the rallies staged by the Opposition's anti-government coalition under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) banner, PM Imran said they had failed and that there was a "market" for the upcoming Senate elections.

That market has been operating for the past 30 years, he added, noting that prices to buy the politicians were set ahead of the Senate elections.

The premier said any country "is destroyed if its prime minister and federal ministers start getting involved in corruption".  The robbers who ruled Pakistan in the past "not only stole money, they also eradicated all morality", he added.

He further reiterated that the PTI regime wishes for open-ballot polls in the Senate but the Opposition has been working towards a secret-balloting system. But "the corrupt elements wish to once again set up a market for the Senate elections".

"Rulers of the past have built properties abroad with the money they got from corruption," he said. "When funds are stolen from the national exchequer, the country suffers a great loss."

PM Imran Khan stressed that rulers of the past gave the impression that corruption was not a bad thing. "Votes have been bought and sold in the Senate elections for the last 30 years."

Change approach to climate emergency

PM Imran Khan also called for the nation to change their approach towards climate emergency in remarks during his visit to the Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project site.

"Trees are crucial for the future," he said. "Unfortunately, we did not pay attention to planting trees and forests were ruthlessly cleared in the past.

"The Billion Tree [Tsunami] project must succeed to reduce the impact of climate change," he said, noting that 70% of trees in Lahore were cut down over the past 20 years.

The premier announced that the Kamra town would be added to a technology park. "To deal with climate change, we have to change ourselves as a nation," he noted.