Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to play their role in ensuring free and fair voting for the Punjab chief minister’s election.
Speaking to the media in Lahore alongside ex-planning minister Asad Umar, Qureshi highlighted how Pakistan People’s Party co-chairperson and former president Asif Ali Zardari is using the same tactics he employed to steal the election in favor of ousted prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani during the Senate polls.
He lambasted Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for saying that “some MPAs might go missing on the CM voting day.” “Maryam’s statement that defeat has been accepted gracefully by PML-N did not coincide with Sanaullah’s,” the ex-FM added, saying that “cheap tactics like purchasing the conscience of MPAs won’t work anymore.”
Responding to a question pertaining to whether the voting for Punjab’s CM election can be delayed, the PTI vice president maintained that the Supreme Court had made it clear that “the voting will be held on July 22 at 4 pm in the Punjab Assembly session by the deputy speaker.” He also said the top court had also stated that the oath of the new Punjab CM should be held on July 23 without any delay.
