The controversy over the Senate elections and the subsequent election of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the upper house refuses to die down. Fresh impetus to the charges and counter-charges of horse-trading by political parties has been provided by the revelation of the Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Senator Siraj ul Haq, that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak solicited his party's votes on the eve of these elections by saying the PTI had received instructions from the 'top' to vote for Sadiq Sanjrani as Chairman. Naturally, this statement added fuel to the fire of speculations surrounding the seeming hanky-panky that went on, starting with the 'coup' against the PML-N-led coalition government in Balochistan and ending up with the Senate election debacle. Siraj's revelation has soured relations between the JI and PTI coalition partners in the KP government, with PTI chief Imran Khan and party spokesman Fawad Chaudhry calling out the JI to leave the KP government. Siraj has attempted a justification for the JI lingering on in the corridors of power in Peshawar by citing the few weeks left of the KP government's tenure, during which its member, who is the KP finance minister, is involved in budget preparations. PTI sources say this is just a cover up since Imran Khan has already announced that CM Khattak will not be presenting this year's budget before his government's term expires. Khattak has also attempted to cast doubt on Siraj's statement by 'clarifying' that by 'top' he meant Bani Gala (Imran Khan's residence in Islamabad) and no one else. Nevertheless, given the swirl of rumour, accusation and allegation surrounding the whole affair, Siraj's statement has not only rocked the boat of the KP government on the eve of its departure, it has cast a long shadow over the upcoming general elections. Meanwhile the group of 20 PTI MPAs named and shamed by Imran Khan as having sold their votes for money has hit back in a press conference demanding an apology within 15 days or they will seek legal recourse. They have also inveigled Khattak as the fount of buying and selling of votes during the Senate elections and accused him of corruption in mega projects. Other reports say the seemingly bold move of Imran Khan to 'out' these allegedly erring MPAs is less principled than it appears at first glance. It is said these MPAs had already fallen out of favour and were unlikely to be given tickets in the upcoming election. Hence their outing would not dent the PTI in the manner and to the extent initial opinion thought.
The row over the whole episode also bears the background of the JI having decided to join the newly-resurrected Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance of religious parties. It may not therefore feel any hesitation in 'ditching' its senior coalition partner at this juncture. The to and fro fray that the issue has given birth to notwithstanding, it has strengthened Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N's stance that skullduggery was afoot throughout. Reports speak of the deep state penetrating deeply into the Senate electoral process, an intervention that has delegitimised the electoral and democratic process grievously. The 'confirmation' of skullduggery may have come from an unexpected source, but as an 'insider' of the KP government, Siraj's blowing the lid off the murky affair has focused the spotlight on the engineered outcome in Balochistan and the subsequent Senate elections. Now the PML-N and others are expressing doubts about whether in the present atmosphere, free and fair general elections are at all possible. The PML-N sees the trend as pointing in the direction of denying it its expected mandate and putting Nawaz Sharif and perhaps other members of his family behind bars on corruption charges. All this may succeed in obtaining the 'positive results' so beloved of our establishment in our history, but the validity of the election result may become questionable thus undermining the position of the elected as truly representing the will of the people.
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