APRIL: Pakistan's leading opposition leader Imran Khan today said he would take action against 20 provincial lawmakers of his party for allegedly selling their votes in elections to the upper house of parliament.
The elections to the Senate early last month were marred by allegations levelled by various political leaders that several lawmakers from different parties took money to vote against several policies.
Cricketer-turned-politician Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party (PTI) rules the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where allegedly many lawmakers were involved in the vote-for-money scandal.
In press conference here, Khan who is campaigning for a corruption-free Pakistan, identified 20 party members and lawmakers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly and accused each of them of selling their vote for Rs 40 million.
"We have issued them show cause notices to explain their position to the party.
We will ask National Accountability Bureau to take action against them if they fail to satisfy the party," said Khan.
The Senate is 104-member upper chamber of parliament and the members are elected by the lawmakers of provincial and national assemblies on the basis of proportional representation.
This makes selling and buying of votes easier.
Khan said money had been used in all elections to the Senate but it was for the first time that any party had initiated action against those who sold their votes.