PTI politicians deny party leader’s accusation that they sold their senate votes

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politicians accused by party chairman Imran Khan of selling their votes in Senate elections in March 2018 have denied the allegations, claiming that party bosses are targeting them for political reasons.
“I was part of a 12-member panel of provincial lawmakers who were asked to vote for Fida Mohammed Khan in the Senate polls,” said Nagina Khan, a member of the provincial assembly (MPA) for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elected to a seat reserved for a woman. “Fida became a senator since all the 12 lawmakers voted for him. Why am I then accused of selling my vote?”
She added that the party had experienced a significant increase in the number of female politicians recently.
“This explains why the PTI leaders are trying to expel some of us since they need to create space to accommodate new people,” she said. “Hence, I was expelled on trumped-up charges.”
Another lawmaker, Naseem Hayat, said Imran Khan should have talked to the 20 named MPAs in person before publicly accusing them of corruption.
“I spent 21 years in this party and I am its oldest activist,” she said. “This is how Imran Khan has rewarded me, by making me wear the medal of imaginary corrupt practices.”
Hayat did not rule out the possibility that some members might have sold their votes, pointing out that the PTI-supported Maulana Sami Ul Haq did not get elected to the upper house of parliament which, she admitted, had put the party in an embarrassing situation. However, she said she was targeted for a different reason.
“I was trying to investigate the embezzlement of funds by the provincial authorities in the Bus Rapid Transit project in Peshawar,” she said. “I was also trying to figure out how the Selfie Bridge, which was recently constructed in the city, developed cracks so easily.”
MPA Fauzia Bibi brought the Holy Qur’an to the Peshawar Press Club and swore on it that she did not sell her vote in the elections.
Addressing a news conference, she called on Imran Khan to send the case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to properly investigate which lawmakers had broken the rules.
“Imran Khan once told me that he trusted me so much that he could give me a ticket to contest elections on a general seat for the National Assembly of Pakistan,” she added. “I believe this didn’t go down well with some party leaders who got jealous and conspired against me.”
She said an initial list of accused MPAs did not include her name, but it was added later.
In a separate press conference, MPA Meraj Humayun Khan said she was elected to the provincial assembly as a member of the Qaumi Watan Party, and joined PTI after the Senate elections last month.
“Why have I been targeted, then?” she asked. “I joined the party after the Senate polls. Why has the chief minister included my name in the PTI panel, saying that I didn’t vote for the party’s chosen candidate?”
She said the PTI leadership should have issued notices to the accused MPAs confidentially, then publicly named those who failed to prove their innocence.
“If the chief minister has any proof that I had sold my vote,” she added, “he should produce it and I will accept this allegation.”
PTI’s KP spokesman Shaukat Yousafzai said the allegations had been confirmed by party sources.
“Our party’s internal committee confirmed the allegations before Imran Khan did the news conference,” he said. “Also, the case is now going to the NAB.”
He denied that there had been more than one version of the list of accused MPAs, saying: “There was only one list. The other list being circulated is fake.”

PTI politicians deny party leader’s accusation that they sold their senate votes