As Senate elections near, the political temperature is rising by the day with all major political parties fiercely campaigning to ensure that their respective parliamentarians vote for the correct candidate. Therefore, in the absence of any guarantees, the government is pulling out all the stops, engaging in activity that is detrimental to unity even within its own ranks. Last week both PTI candidates from Islamabad, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Fauzia Arshad, met with The Punjab Governor at his Lahore residence to get assurances that PTI and allied parties’ National Assembly members would vote for them. It is understandable why the ruling party lacks confidence in its parliamentarians, to contest Senate elections in a conventional manner. Prime Minister Imran Khan can market his pre-Senate election moves as an effort to make them ‘corruption free’ but it is obvious that it is aimed at getting a majority in the Upper House come what may, by hook or by crook.

Source: Pakistan Today February 27, 2021 18:00 UTC