PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Information Mushtaq Ghani said on Monday the major political parties could block horse-trading in the forthcoming Senate elections if they took a unanimous decision to field joint candidates. Talking to The News here, he said this was a good opportunity for all the political parties to nominate unanimous candidates to block horse-trading in the Senate elections. Mushtaq Ghani said that as there was only one independent lawmaker in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, therefore no independent candidate could file nomination papers for the Senate polls. He said an independent candidate would require two members of provincial assembly as proposer and seconder. “One lawmaker would be required to propose him and the other to second him and this is not possible this time as there is only one MPA in the provincial assembly,” he added. The minister said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) that had five MPAs each in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly could not elect their senator but they could nominate and second an independent candidate. “But if all the opposition parties take a joint decision they could play an important role in blocking horse-trading in Senate election,” he suggested. He said it was the responsibility of the treasury and opposition benches to draw a joint line of action. Mushtaq Ghani recalled that his party had proposed having direct elections for the senators like the MNAs and MPAs. He said if the people could elect the MNAs and MPAs, they should have the right to vote for the senators. He suggested bringing reforms for the betterment of the nation. The minister dispelled the impression that the dissidents and like-minded legislators of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) could vote for the nominees of other parties to create problems for the government. He added the like-minded group of PTI MPAs could have difference of opinion at the provincial level, but they have no complaints against the central leadership. “They cannot and will not violate party discipline once a decision is taken by the PTI Chairman Imran Khan,” he maintained. The minister said the like-minded legislators were united under the dynamic leadership of Imran Khan and they would follow the party line. Mushtaq Ghani said the PTI had not finalised the names for the Senate election and it would take the decision after consultation. The minister hoped the PTI would win the local government election on the basis of its performance. Mushtaq Ghani said the KP government carried out legislation, including the Right to Information Act and the Right to Services Act, to check corruption. He said now every citizen had the right to get information about government officials and elected representative and take legal action against them if there was any violation of the rules and regulations.
