PM forms committee to probe against Senate horse-trading in 2018
- By Abdul Qadir -
- Feb 11, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to hold an investigation against the legislators involved in horse-trading during Senate elections in 2018 after the emergence of their video, ARY News reported on Thursday.
A three-member committee has been formed by PM Imran Khan to launch a thorough probe against vote trading by some members of provincial assembly (MPAs) during Senate polls in 2018 after the emergence of their video, sources told ARY News.
The committee comprising Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari and Shahzad Akbar was tasked to ascertain the facts against those involved in horse-trading besides forwarding its recommendations to the premier regarding the video.
Read: Senate vote being sold for Rs700m in Balochistan: PM
Sources said that the committee will present its recommendations to the premier prior to approaching the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for seeking criminal action against the responsible persons.
Moreover, the committee will also forward its suggestion to send the cases to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), sources added.
On February 9, a video had surfaced which exposed the horse-trading during Senate elections in 2018 by some party lawmakers who could be seen as counting bundles of currencies and hiding it inside the bag.
Read: KP law minister resigns from post over allegations of horse-trading
The video obtained by ARY News had shown how the loyalty of 20 lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was changed after horse-trading during Senate elections in 2018. The lawmakers had been ousted from the political party by the central leadership after holding a thorough investigation.
It exposed that PTI lawmakers had been made hefty payments in 2018 during Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) polls. The lawmakers can be seen counting banknotes and putting it inside a bag. Sources told ARY News that the vote-trading had been carried out from February 20 to March 2, 2018.