PM reveals he was offered money ahead of Senate election

Defending his party’s move to hold the upcoming election of the upper house of the parliament through open ballot, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.

“Money goes to the very top,” the premier said while speaking to media on Friday.

According to Dawn, PM Imran claimed that 20 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate poll to vote in favour of certain candidates.

Saying that the parties opposing the amendment aimed at curbing corruption would stand exposed, he added the PTI had expelled the 20 members after they were found guilty of horse-trading by an investigation committee.

“We also know who is raising money to buy loyalties this time,” he said, without naming anyone.

He termed the practice “betrayal” with Pakistan because the Senate had a particular “status and role” since it represented the provinces in the federation.

The premier said it reflected poorly on the kind of people who came to the Senate through money and questioned the ability of such lawmakers to represent their respective provinces. “Apart from that, what kind of democracy is this where legislators sell their vote by taking money?” he asked.

Acknowledging that his government did not have a two-thirds majority in the lower house, the premier said the ruling party would still try to present the amendment for open ballot in the Senate elections to curb horse-trading.