ISLAMABAD: Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday expressed ‘surprise’ over the ‘delay’ in reforms in the Senate elections by the Election of Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The federal minister, addressing a press conference here, said that it is mandatory for the ECP to follow the Supreme Court’s orders on using technology for the Senate elections.
Talking about the elections, he said both candidates of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from Islamabad would easily win the Senate elections. “This victory will prove to be a decisive development for the opposition’s dying politics,” he remarked.
“Realising that Hafeez Shaikh will win, they have started to look towards Fazlur Rehman [chief of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl], thinking that his politics will rescue them,” Chaudhry said.
“The opposition has failed to sell political slogans and have now again resorted to talking about launching a long march,” he said.
Chaudhry further claimed that everyone knew what the opposition parties did to the country’s economy. He observed that the Senate elections mark the major contest that was to take place ahead of the next general elections.
“We have some 181 members on our side and this number is expected to increase tomorrow,” the minister said. Talking about the ECP’s narrative, he said the ECP’s narrative was weak with respect to the senate elections.
He said the ECP decision to postpone reforms till the next elections was surprising, especially when the Supreme Court had given a different opinion. The decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan gives a different opinion, but both the institutions are respectable for us, he maintained. The minister stressed that the orders of the apex court could have been carried out very easily. The Election Commission’s job is not only to distribute ballots but also to make the election fair and transparent.
Lashing out at the PPP, he said the numbers do not favor the party, while adding that “What option does PPP have other than buying people and horse-trading?”
Chaudhry said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not have the capacity to bring about a change in the country.
He said Senate election was the last battle, after that there would be the general elections. The Opposition’s attempted political maneuvering has failed miserably, he added. Taking his astonishment to Twitter, the federal minister said that the commission had acknowledged the importance of using technology to prevent vote buying and selling, and the corruption in the Senate elections.
He said the Opposition’s cries would start after 24 hours and then they would create a new story to keep the TV screens alive, adding that the immature politics of the Opposition was arranged on a daily basis as they lacked any policy and strategy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021