Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that if he fails to get the vote of confidence from the parliament, he will sit on opposition benches. 

He expressed these views during his address to the nation on Thursday. He lashed out at the opposition parties after PTI candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was defeated by the PDM candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Senate election. He said that the opposition parties damaged the democracy in the country by doing horse-trading in the Senate election. They ‘bought’ PTI MNAs to get elected their corrupt candidate in the Senate election. Despite all the corruption, PTI emerged as largest party in the upper house of the parliament.

Imran Khan said that he would get the vote of confidence from the parliament on Saturday (March 6). “If I fails to get the vote, I will sit on opposition benches. I will respect the decision of parliamentarians,” he added. He said that he would not spare the corrupt politicians till the end of his life. 

The prime minister said if he did not remain in power, he would take the nation out against corruption and the corrupt. “The people do not come out for the corrupt but against the corrupt and corruption.”

He expressed his conviction that Pakistan was bound to emerge as a great nation in accordance with the dreams of its founding fathers. “This country will go up, and these big thieves and dacoits will be behind the bars,” he maintained.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also questioned the role of Election Commission of Pakistan in Senate election. He said that ECP opposed the open ballot in the Supreme Court. It was constitutional responsibility of ECP to ensure free, fair elections in the country, he added. ECP saved the corrupt people by holding secret ballot. ECP could have conducted the Senate elections as per the guidelines of the apex court, he added. 

He said that he expelled 20 MPAs from his party after they got money in the 2018 Senate elections. He said that government presented a bill in the parliament for open ballot in the Senate election. The opposition refused the open ballot, then the government moved to the apex court for guidance. The supreme court in its observations held ECP responsible for free and fair election in the country. He said that all the opposition parties wanted open ballot in the past now they wanted the secret balloting. He said that the secret balloting suited the opposition as they succeeded in ‘buying’ opponent’s parliamentarians. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the opposition wanted to get NRO from him. He said that they blackmailed him on various occasion including FATF legislation. I had earlier said that all the corrupt people would unite against him for NRO. They also tried to put pressure on the government over coronavirus, he added. 

He said that he is proud to be born in independent state. He said that Pakistan was declining since 1985 when non-party system brought money to the elections. The money ruined the political system, he added.