PTI applauds the Apex Court

Lahore:Pakistan Tehrek-e Insaf has applauded the Supreme Court for its decision to publish photographs of political personalities on government advertisements. In a statement issued today, Secretary Information PTI Shafqat Mahmood said “ these photos are being placed on government ads by federal and provincial governments to get political mileage for their respective parties. This is misuse of government money and also amounts to pre poll rigging”. He further said that Punjab Government is putting photos of Mr. Nawaz Sharif on its ads, who has no official position. Federal and Sindh government do the same and place Mr. Zardari’s photos. Since the President is a head of state it is inappropriate for his photo to appear on ads extolling government activities. It is good, he said, that Supreme Court has taken notice of this misuse and sought a reply from the government.

Central Information Secretary PTI further said that this matter also raises the larger question of misuse of government resources to further political objectives just before the elections. There are reports that both the Federal and Punjab government besides using government money to advertise their parties are also giving vast sums of money for so called development to their MNA’s and MPA’s. This also amounts to pre poll rigging and the Chief Election Commissioner should take notice and pass orders to stop this politics on state money. Shafqat Mahmood concluded by saying that a level playing field for all parties is essential for the coming elections to be perceived as fair and free. It is the duty of the Election Commission to ensure this.