Nisar alleges votes were bought in Senate elections

* Opposition leader urges SC, ECP to take action

* Alleges deal has been made in memo case

By Tanveer Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday alleged that money had been used in Senate elections to buy votes and urged Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Supreme Court to take action against the ‘horse trading’.
Talking to media outside parliament, The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said that selling and buying of votes was a shameful act. He urged ECP to take action on the reports of ‘deals’ and ‘horse-trading’. He expressed resolve that he would raise voice against use of money in Senate elections. “What is left behind if even parliament can be bought,” he said.
The opposition leader said there was ‘open dealing’ in the elections, which his party strongly condemned, adding that the elements involved in ‘horse trading’ needed to be exposed. “The polls are held to elect national leaders, not dealers,” he remarked, adding that silence over the issue would be a crime.
Nisar opposed extension in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general’s service, saying his party would strongly resist any move in that direction. He said that PML-N will not compromise on the issues of national interest and alleged that a drama was being staged against the interest of people of Pakistan. “On one hand, the ISI DG has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the memo scandal, while on the other, he is demanding extension in his tenure,” he said.
Nisar said the extension would be ‘mother of all deals’ and would affect the ISI DG’s and the army chief’s stance in their reply in the memo case before the apex court. He further said the issue of extension was a matter of great concern and that he was unable to understand why such proposal was under consideration.
The opposition leader said that taking an extension through a ‘deal’ at the cost of the country’s sovereignty was no less than a national crime. He was of the view that a deal had been struck in the memo case, adding that if the matter was to be decided that way, why the precious time of the nation and Supreme Court was being wasted. “Now the issue of an extension for General Pasha will become political and the PML-N has a right to adopt any strategy against the move”, he warned.

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