Senate polls 2018: PM Imran directs to remove KP law minister over horse-trading

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to immediately remove provincial law minister Sultan Mohammad Khan from the post on suspicion of horse-trading during Senate elections in 2018, ARY News reported.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr. Shahbaz Gill in a tweet said that PM Imran has directed the KP chief minister to remove the law minister and summoned an inquiry report over the matter.

وزیراعظم عمران خان کا KP کے وزیر قانون سے استعفی لینے کا فیصلہ۔ وزیراعظم نے وزیراعلی Kp کو احکامات دے دئیے۔ اس بات کی تفصیلی انکوائری کر کے رپورٹ پیش کی جائے گی۔

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) February 9, 2021

He said that a report will be presented to the prime minister after carrying out a thorough investigation into the matter.

The present KP Law Minister Sultan Khan was a member of the Qaumi Watan Party during the 2018 Senate elections.

A video was surfaced today 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.

The video obtained by ARY News shows 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.

Read: Federal cabinet greenlights ordinance for Senate polls through open vote

Sources told ARY News that the vote-trading had been carried out from February 20 to March 2, 2018.

In 2021, Prime Minister Imran Khan had expressed aims to hold Senate elections through the open ballot in 2021 in order to eliminate the menace of vote-trading in the country.

The federal government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had prepared an ordinance to pave way for holding the Upper House polls via open vote besides moving to the Supreme Court (SC) for the determination of legalities of the law.