PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, after losing the presidential election to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, has claimed that for the first time neither any vote was bought nor sold in the poll.
“The most unusual thing about this election was that the first time it has happened votes were neither bought nor sold,” he told reporters outside Parliament in Islamabad.
“There are some people in Pakistan who think that everything can be bought and sold in Pakistan,” he said, adding that there is a distinction growing between people who could be bought and those who cannot.
The Sunni Ittehad Council backed candidates lost to the former president by a big margin. According to the result shared by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on social media, Zardari got 411 votes and the opposing candidate got 181 votes in Parliament and four assemblies.
The PPP co-chairman would succeed Arif Alvi as the 14th president of the country. In a reception hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, Bilawal described the stature of the presidency as the “Queen of England” after the former president devolved his powers under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
Achakzai, who hails from Balochistan, thanked lawmakers who voted for him in the presidential election. He also thanked those who did not belong to Imran Khan’s party, the BNP-M chief and his two-member parliament.
He wondered why National Party’s Abdul Malik Baloch who vowed to vote for the alliance did not vote for him. “Don’t know whether he slipped on a banana peel or what happened? We should have got one vote from there. We did not get any single vote from our province [Balochistan].”
Achakzai has been playing his role in the political democratic alliance which can be gauged from his active participation in MRD, APDM, Poonam, PDM, and other movements.
But overall he was satisfied with the process. “This is good and a good precedent has been set. We will talk about other things in Parliament.”
He reiterated that he had urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to delay the poll for five to seven days to try to ease the tense political situation by developing a consensus.
The PkMAP chief said that the NA speaker did not understand his demand or else the presidential election could be held with consensus.
“I still say that and I request that this charged environment in Punjab and KP is not a good sign for the future. I will request Nawaz Sharif that he should tell the saner elements in his party that maybe he may not have good ties with some people and do not like their actions, but a large number of people in Pakistan have voted for that party,” he said.
In an apparent reference, the politician was speaking about incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan. He had called for his release in his maiden NA speech.
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“We have to bear each other,” Achakzai said and added that politicians have to support each other. He went on to add that it could be done if parties don’t take their parliamentary issues to court.
The PkMAP chief reminded politicians that the legislative assembly had formed the Constitution. “The sooner the better,” he said, adding that except for Nawaz Sharif, politicians were small in front of the challenges faced by the country.
“Our small mistake can destroy the region,” he said and requested “for the sake of the country” to have discussions on Iran, Afghanistan, and resources related to Central Asia.
“This is the test of our wisdom,” he said and warned leaders against getting involved in proxies due to the leaders’ “negative attitude”.
He shared that he went to congratulate Zardari, but the latter was not in his seat. He sent his congratulatory message to senior leaders of PPP. “Now a test will begin for all of us.”
