PTI wants Gilani disqualified over son’s secret video

ISLAMABAD: Hours before lawmakers across before the polling for the fiercely fought Senate elections, a video and an audio surfaced showing Ali Haider, the son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, the joint opposition’s candidate, explaining to lawmakers how to cancel their votes.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken notice of the two recorded conversations and allegation of PTI Sindh leader Liaquat Jatoi that his party sold its ticket to a wealthy person for Rs300 million.

In the audio, Gilani’s son Ali Haider was allegedly talking to Sindh Minister Nasir Shah about solving the issues of four members of the National Assembly (MNAS) belonging to the rival Pakistan

Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) in Sindh. However, Shah denied it was he who was talking to Haider.

The PTI immediately cried foul, demanding that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declare Gilani ineligible ater the emergence of the video that it said showed “votes being bought.” It also filed a reference with the ECP seeking Gilani’s disqualification for being involved in “corrupt practices.”

Gilani was fielded as a joint candidate of the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement from Islamabad. His solitary challenger for the general seat was Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of the PTI.

In the night-time video of about one-and-a-half minutes, Gilani can be heard apparently explaining through specific details to at least two lawmakers how they can waste their votes during the election.

The faces of none of the men in the video can be clearly seen and it is not clear whom Haider is talking to or who recorded and leaked the video.

Within minutes of the video being broadcast, the various chapters of the ruling PTI and government spokespersons started tweeting about it, saying the clip had “exposed” Gilani as well as the opposition.

Reacting to the video, Haider confirmed its genuineness but denied that he offered any money to the PTI MNAS. He said all these lawmakers were his old friends and he keeps meeting them frequently. He said he was not engaging in a deal to buy votes for his father.

Minister For Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the video showed Haider explaining to PTI MNAS how to waste their votes.

He said ater Haider’s “confession” that the video was true, it was the ECP’S responsibility to declare Gilani ineligible to contest Wednesday’s elections and file a reference against him under Articles 218, 219 and 220 and the Supreme Court’s recent judgment on the presidential reference seeking open ballot in the Senate polls. “But notwithstanding our reference, I hope the chief election commissioner will take notice of this video.”