SUKKUR: Senior PPP politician Khursheed Shah claimed on Tuesday that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had been waiting to enter politics until the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had lost its famous cricket bat electoral symbol, according to a report from Geo News.
He was presumably alluding to the fact that the PML-N had begun its campaign just one day after the Supreme Court had affirmed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling that the PTI’s intra-party polls were “unconstitutional,” thereby stripping the party of its bat emblem a few weeks before the polls on February 8.
With a public rally in Okara on Monday, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz launched her party’s election campaign.
During her speech at the event, Maryam attacked PTI founder Imran Khan, accusing him of planning and carrying out the violent attacks on May 9.
She made fun of the PTI founder for allegedly “snatching” his electoral emblem, arguing that a “baton” should be used instead of a bat, and that his party had attacked military sites during the May 9 rallies.
Shah stated in a statement that they desired fair and equal opportunities for all political parties. Despite losing their electoral symbol, the PPP mainstay said he thought the PTI should run in the poll.
“The PTI was stripped of the bat symbol because they disregarded the law when holding intra-party elections,” he claimed.
He asserted that holding free and fair elections was the duty of the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) and other governmental organizations. He clarified that there shouldn’t be any mistake over the general elections, which would take place on February 8.
If elections were held in a transparent manner, the PPP leader declared that all the parties would accept the results.
He claimed that although an alliance was formed to oppose the PPP, none of their candidates could be found.