ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday accused Punjab Home Minister Attaullah Tarar of approaching three PTI MPAs to bribe them ahead of the election of the chief minister for Punjab on Friday while blaming PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to be the mastermind of the wicked activity.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Fawad said that the Punjab minister offered PTI’s lawmakers up to Rs 300 million for greasing their palms to subtract party’s votes in the election.
He said that Atta Tarar made this offer on the back of PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari who is using ill-gotten money for the nefarious activity. Fawad announced moving to Supreme Court against the use of illegal means to win the election and demanded the arrests of Tarar, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and Asif Ali Zardari after detailed inquiry into the matter.
He said that a ‘diabolic game’ has begun in Punjab after PTI’s landslide victory in the by-polls, adding that PTI has majority in the provincial assembly with 188 seats.
He said that the game began when Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah threatened to make PTI MPAs ‘disappear’ before the CM election and other government officials also reiterated the same. Then, he added, that the matter went beyond statements.
He said that PTI’s MPA Chaudhry Masood from Rahim Yar Khan flew to Turkey after allegedly taking Rs400 million as bribe to help Hamza Shahbaz in the CM election.
“You guess .. MPAs are being bought for up to Rs400 million. This is a vicious circle in Pakistan [politics] whose mastermind is Asif Ali Zardari.”
Fawad mentioned the contempt of court petition filed in the Supreme Court by PTI today in which the top court has sought transcript of the Sanaullah’s statement while expressing concerns on rigging attempts in Punjab.
He said that three PTI MPAs – who were approached by Tarar – will also submit their affidavits in the Supreme Court tomorrow.
In the document, the lawmakers have narrated the conversation during which Tarar tried to strike a deal with them. He said Tarar first asked PTI’s lawmakers to arrange 10 members.
However, the PTI lawmakers said they had 14 members for which they would require Rs14 billion, Rs1 billion each.
But, the minister termed the offer as ‘too high’ and instead offered up to Rs30 million for each lawmaker who would remain absent on the voting day.
Fawad claimed that Atta Tarar said the offer was made on the back of PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
He said that such practices have undermined the moral values in the politics and buying loyalties was not even considered sordid.
“When you are in opposition .. spend billions of rupees for coming into power and then recover this money from contracts .. and then spend billions of rupees to stay in the government,” Fawad named it a vicious circle in local politics that should be dismantled or else warned that democracy has no future in Pakistan.
He said the PTI lawmakers would submit their affidavits in the Supreme Court on Thursday and demanded the top court to have a detailed inquiry into the matter and order arrests of Tarar, Sanaullah and Zardari.
