Imran accuses PPP of horse-trading in KP

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said horse-trading in the Senate elections allowed the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to win two seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they have seven MPAs only.

“This sort of electoral farce raises some serious ethical questions. That is why the PTI presented alternate election formats of either direct elections or elections on party lists. We warned the sale of votes will always exist otherwise. Sadly the electoral reforms committee rejected both the proposals as did the Committee of the Whole of the Senate,” he said in a series of tweets.

Imran lamented: “The Senate elections have yet again witnessed a shameful horse trading where the MPAs bought and sold their votes as the country witnessed this sale of their "elected" people to the highest bidder. This shows the moral decline of our political class. In which Western democracy does such a sale happen?” The PTI chief contended that the Senate elections have not only devalued the Upper House but the entire political class.

“The money in play in the Senate elections is a major reason why the public's perception is strengthened that people come into politics to enrich themselves rather than to serve the people,” he lamented.