{"id":52470,"date":"2024-01-26T02:03:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T02:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/abbasi-urges-political-leaders-to-make-polls-non-controversial-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-01-26T02:03:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T02:03:06","slug":"abbasi-urges-political-leaders-to-make-polls-non-controversial-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/abbasi-urges-political-leaders-to-make-polls-non-controversial-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbasi urges political leaders to make polls non-controversial | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nRAWALPINDI:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former prime minister Shahid Abbasi has said that the upcoming general elections will be the most \u201ccontroversial\u201d ones in the country\u2019s history, urging the political leadership to make them \u201cnon-controversial\u201d.<\/p>\n

The estranged PML-N leader made the remarks while speaking to the media in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n

Abbasi had developed differences with the party leadership over the last year. In February last year, he had resigned as the party\u2019s senior vice president in an effort to give Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz an \u201copen field\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the media talk, Abbasi also said he had decided against contesting the Feb 8 polls but had not quit politics, terming the elections \u201cuseless\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former prime minister highlighted that it was the responsibility of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar to ensure that the upcoming elections were \u201cnon-controversial\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI become more satisfied with each passing day that I made the right decision of no playing a part in such an election, which does not give the country anything other than incitement and flaws,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Abbasi criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), saying that it was a \u201cmisfortune\u201d that they had become the \u201cmost corrupt institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Abbasi says will not contest polls<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alleging that these institutions were now solely used for breaking and distorting elections, he said the entities themselves were the ones contesting the polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have stolen every election since 1947. A country where the public\u2019s opinion is not respected can never make progress,\u201d he said, adding that if the politics of garnering votes through pressure was not rejected, the country could not move forward.<\/p>\n

When asked about reports of him and other leaders \u2014Mustafa Khokhar and Miftah Ismail \u2014 forming a new party, Abbasi said, \u201cA political party is not formed in such an environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an apparent reference to the PML-N, the PTI and the PPP, the seasoned politician said, \u201cThe three major political parties in Pakistan today have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further said he would decide on his political future after the February 8 polls.<\/p>\n

When asked if the perpetrators behind the violence in the country on May 9 \u2014 when riots broke out following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan \u2014 should be provided with a level-playing field, Abbasi said that action should have been taken against the individuals by collecting evidence and following the legal process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister Shahid Abbasi has said that the upcoming general elections will be the most \u201ccontroversial\u201d ones in the country\u2019s history, urging the political leadership to make them \u201cnon-controversial\u201d. The estranged PML-N leader made the remarks while speaking to the media in Rawalpindi. Abbasi had developed differences with the party leadership over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/shahid-khaqan-abbasi1699379869-0\/shahid-khaqan-abbasi1699379869-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t