Senate polls by show of hands: PM doesn’t have confidence in his own legislators, says Nisar Khuhro

KARACHI: Pakistan People's Party Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s desire to use the method of show of hands for the Senate polls shows that he (the PM) doesn’t have confidence in lawmakers of his own party.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Khuhro said the PM knew that members of assemblies belonging to his party were angry with him as in case of the secret voting, they would vote for someone else in the forthcoming Senate polls.

That is the reason the PM wanted to use the method of show of hands for the Senate polls, Khuhro said, urging the president to dismiss the PM on his confessional statement that he could do horse-trading in the Senate elections because making such a statement tantamount to attacking the democracy.

He said the Pakistan People's Party has no issue whether the Senate polls were held in February or March. He advised the PM to step down to make way for premature elections in the country in a transparent manner.

He said PM Imran Khan’s aim to strengthen the Centre showed his dictatorial tendencies. Gone were the days when an empowered Centre represented the empowered provinces. He said that in contrast, empowering the provinces would also empower the Federation.

He said the PM was against the 18th Amendment and the concept of provincial autonomy, as the share of the provinces in the NFC Award had increased while the Centre’s share had decreased.

The PPP Sindh president said that they would not let the federal government alter the 18th Amendment or the concept of the provincial autonomy. He claimed that Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had been ruling the country, as a result of rigging in the polls, adding the policies of the federal government had disappointed the nation a lot. Khuhro said that they were ready to sacrifice the Sindh government for the people of the country.