Imran to take part in by-polls campaign

LAHORE: Defying the Election Commission’s rules for campaigning, PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday announced to take part in the by-poll campaign and to disclose the corruption of the PML-N government.
“We are campaigning for true democracy,” he said, adding that he was shocked to learn that the ECP had barred him from campaigning.
“There is neither any Supreme Court order to this effect nor do I hold a government office,” he said, questioning the ECP notification.
He again expressed mistrust in the ECP member from Punjab and said all opposition parties unanimously rejected him but he had not resigned yet. He also announced to hold a major campaign event on October 4 in Lahore.
Imran called for empowering National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to end army’s interference in political affairs for good.
He was addressing a press conference where two former MPAs - Haji Muhammad Sharif and his son Ajasam Sharif - announced joining the PTI.
Imran said the NAB was not independent in the federal capital and provinces but in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a sitting minister belonging to a majority party had been arrested by the provincial accountability body.
He repeated the demand for deputing Rangers at polling stations in the upcoming by-elections in Lahore and Lodhran. He told media that his party would move the Election Commission against two Punjab Police officials who were campaigning for the PML-N in Lahore. “We would write to the ECP and Punjab Police IG against SP CIA Umer Virk and DSP Riaz Shah and also courts against them.”
The PTI chairmen condemned the Badaber attack and said only military could stop such carnage and terrorism, as police were not fully equipped to deal an attack like that. He criticised the alleged corrupt practices of the Sharif brothers, saying their businesses flourished and the number of their factories increased many manifolds whenever the PML-N came into power.
He promised to eradicate loadshedding and corruption when voted to power and stated that the PML-N had lost credibility with no moral ground to stay in power.
He also announced an inquiry into unopposed election of Khawaja Hassan of PML-N and punishing the responsible. He claimed that the slain PTI worker and the party’s UC candidate Ghaffar Gujjar was harassed by Virk.
Earlier in the day, Imran visited the family of Gujjar for offering condolence and said the party would not leave any stone unturned to bring the killers to justice. The names of public officers running PML-N’s campaign would be published online, he said, adding that PTI would not allow officials to work under political influence, if voted into government.
Imran thanked the PPP for speaking against corruption in Punjab and said he would reveal the cases during the by-election campaign. He asked the government to explain why the cost of Nandipur Power Project jumped to Rs 80 billion from 22 billion rupees. He also sought explanation on Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and LNG scandals.
“These by-elections provided us a chance to highlight the corruption of present rulers which has been a well-kept secret so far,” Imran said. He claimed that the Sharif family lured people in their support either through bribing or harassing them. “The family is adding two more sugar mills against which the court has also passed orders,” he told the press.
Responding to a question, Imran said people did not trust police in Punjab and Sindh while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police was completely independent of any political interference. People would support anybody who would ensure peace and law and order, he said, adding that the police officers taking part in operation against the MQM in 1990s were assassinated later on.
He questioned the why PML-N came up with a package for farmers after PTI’s convention in Hafizabad. He said the package was part of a plan to rig the local government polls and asked the ECP to take notice of it. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did the same in Gilgit-0Baltistan where he announced projects worth Rs 40 billion ahead of polls.
He said the PTI had evolved a lot since the 2013 general elections, admitting that the party had committed some mistakes before polls. He, however, claimed that the verdicts of election tribunals and judicial commission had vindicated their stance of rigging in general elections.
He said the verdicts on the election petitions of Malik Karamat Khokhar and Hamid Zaman were due but the government replaced the tribunal judges fearing a defeat. He said the government was trying to deny justice to PTI and the change of tribunal judges would delay the verdicts by another year. He said Peshawar was surrounded by tribal areas which were breeding grounds for terrorists but despite that the law and order improved a lot when compared with the previous governments.