WHAT OTHERS SAY

IMRAN’S BOLD MOVE

Finally, a political leader has taken action, going beyond the condemnations and lamentations of the political system that have become so common. In an extraordinary news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, PTI supremo Imran Khan named members of his own party in the KP Assembly who allegedly sold their votes in the recent Senate elections. Twenty PTI MPAS from KP were named by Khan, who claimed that internal party action will be initiated against the accused legislators before evidence is turned over to the National Accountability Bureau. Khan’s unprecedented attempt to tackle corruption in the electoral process deserves praise. While corruption is endemic and will not be easily defeated, a national political leader trying to lead by example must be acknowledged and should be welcomed. To be sure, a news conference and verbal allegations do not constitute proof and the accused MPAS are entitled to due process and their rights under the law. Khan has suggested that corruption was unearthed by monitoring the voting process in the KP Assembly. The single transferable vote is a complex voting system and can yield patterns, but it must be remembered that the ballot is secret and suspicion does not equal proof. Moreover, a system that effectively allows the party chief to decide who the party’s Senate candidates are and requires MPAS to vote as ordered is itself a lawed process. It is possible — though much should not be made of this point — that some MPAS voted according to their conscience or for reasons other than personal gain. Nevertheless, all political parties have at some point alleged corrupt voting practices in the Senate elections.