Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday warned that the general elections slated for February 8 will “damage” the country as the poll process is rigged.
“Elections are a constitutional necessity – it is not a choice whether to hold elections or not – but the political leadership must make the elections meaningful and a way to solve the country’s problems,” Dawn News quoted Abbasi as saying.
“The political leadership has failed in this action,” Abbasi, who was the prime minister between 2017 and 2018 said.
“Making an election purposeful is a job of the political leadership, as this election has become purposeless. The political, military and judicial leaderships of the country should sit together on the table and determine the way forward for the country,” the veteran politician said, pointing towards alleged political engineering in the general elections scheduled for February 8. Talking to media outside the anti-corruption department office in Rawalpindi, where he arrived for interrogation into the case about embezzlement in road projects, Abbasi said the election should not be made controversial as polls are a revered process and making it controversial would damage the country.
Pointing towards alleged rigging in elections, he said the system did not work in 2018 and neither will it work now, Geo News reported.
He said the three largest parties of the country had failed to deliver as neither they had the resolution for the solution of the problems. He also predicted that more than one political party would be created in Pakistan soon.
The estranged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, who had developed differences with the party leadership over the last year, said he had left the elections, not politics, and added that he would decide about forming a new political party after the polls.
Abbasi in February last year had resigned as the party’s senior vice president to give Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz an “open field”.
Since 1947 every election has been stolen. The masses are disappointed with the election process. You still have time to make this process uncontroversial,” he said. On the embezzlement case against him, the ex-premier said the notice against him was sent to his spokesperson instead of him, which was a way of harassing a politician in the election process.
Imagine, how those contesting the polls were being treated if someone who is not even contesting the elections is being treated like this, he said.