Afraid of horse-trading, PTI planning to ensure its MPAs do not switch loyalties in Senate polls

As the fear of horse-trading looms large in the forthcoming Senate elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Sindh leadership has started to form a strategy to stop its lawmakers from changing sides and selling their votes in the polls for the upper house of Parliament.

According to PTI sources, the party’s central leadership is worried about possible horse-trading in the Senate elections. PTI leaders told The News that their top leadership believes that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the ruling party in Sindh, has allegedly been planning to win maximum seats of the Senate from Sindh after purchasing the votes of members of the opposition parties, particularly the PTI.

Although the PTI has not announced its candidates for the Senate elections from Sindh, the party sources say Adviser to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser of Ministry of Maritime Affairs Mahmood Moulvi and Pakitan Baitul Maal Sindh head Hunaid Lakhani are the top three candidates being preferred for the Senate tickets.

As part of the PTI’s strategy to stop horse-trading, the party has submitted a resolution in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday to demand holding the polling process through open ballot. The resolution has been submitted by PTI Karachi President and MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman who stated that it was the desire of the former PPP chief Benazir Bhutto to stop horse-trading and corruption in the parliamentary matters and the principle of holding the Senate elections through open ballot was also included in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed by Benazir.

In addition to that, the PTI has devised a mechanism to find out if its lawmakers were willing to sell their votes. The party intends to expel such lawmakers but also name and shame them.

Talking to the media after submitting the resolution in the Sindh Assembly, Zaman said if the PPP did not allow the resolution to come in the assembly or reject it there, it would be clear that the PPP of today was no longer the party of Benazir Bhutto but had become Zardari League.

The Clause 23 of the CoD signed between the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in 2006 called for the elimination of horse-trading and floor crossing.

“Till date, no political party has taken serious steps to stop horse-trading in the assemblies because they are themselves involved in corruption, and selling and purchasing the votes,” said Zaman. PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly Bilal Ghaffar, and MPAs Dr Imran Ali Shah, Raja Azhar and Riaz Haider also accompanied him.

The PTI Karachi president said his party was proud of its leader Prime Minister Imran Khan who raised his concerns over the issue of horse-trading and introduced a bill in Parliament to hold the forthcoming Senate elections through open ballot.

“But the attitude of the opposition parties towards open ballot voting in the Senate elections is very regrettable,” he said. “We have proved through our positive steps that we are against corruption.”

Zaman also announced that the PTI had devised a mechanism, through which it would know if any of its members went against the party and voted for another candidate. “In case of violation, the member of the assembly will be expelled from the party and his name will also be brought to light,” he said.