ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President on Thursday asserted that the government’s proposed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) was a plot to rig the next general elections.
The PML-N leader expressed her views while talking to journalists following her appearance at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the hearing of the Avenfield reference. “What does a government, which is based on rigging, has to do with transparency,” Maryam asked.
Maryam Nawaz further said that she considered the electoral reforms ineffective. “There is no use of such reforms until rigging is stopped and those transgressing their authority are barred,” she added.
Commenting over the government’s refusal to reveal the details of foreign gifts received by PM Imran, Maryam said that the decision has brought embarrassment to the premier. She criticised him for refusing to be answerable for them.
“This is not your personal money,” she said, asserting that a lot more would come up towards the end of the government’s tenure. “You will be held accountable for every rupee and we will not let you flee with the stolen money,” she added.
She lamented the increase in prices of flour, sugar, electricity and gas, adding that “people were severely troubled by inflation”. “The opposition should raise its voice for the people and should stand with them,” she concluded.
In response to a question regarding extension of National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s chief tenure, Maryam said the PML-N would address the issue when a formal decision on the NAB chief’s extension is announced.
She further stated that the government wanted to strike off the opposition’s role from NAB and appoint the brothers of the ministers in the bureau.
جو انسان اپنی کارکردگی پہ تکیہ نہیں کرسکتا جو ہر محاذ پہ بری طرح ناکام ہے چاہے وہ مہنگائی ہو معیشت ہو فارن ریلیشن ہوں خارجہ پالیسی ہو امن و امان کی صورتحال ہو تو ایسے میں وہ بیچاری حکومت الیکٹرونک ووٹنگ مشین پہ تکیہ نہیں کرے گی تو کیا عوام میں جائے گی.@MaryamNSharif pic.twitter.com/02IFjOhtWB
— PML(N) (@pmln_org) September 23, 2021
Later in a Tweet, Maryam Nawaz stated that “a government that cannot rely on its own performance, has failed miserably on every front – be it inflation, economy, foreign relations or the law and order situation – will rely on electronic machines and not the people.”
A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated his government’s resolve to introduce EVMs to put an end to chronic allegations of rigging surrounding elections in the country but said certain people with “vested interests” were opposed to the reforms.
