Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday lashed out at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for ‘making a mockery of democracy’, while also calling out the ECP for ‘protecting those who made money by holding the Senate elections through secret ballot’. In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister also told his party members that it is their democratic right to cast a vote against him if they are unhappy with his leadership. “You can say you do not stand with Imran Khan. I will respect your decision […] I will go sit in the opposition,” he said. Imran Khan said he would seek a vote of confidence from his party’s lawmakers in the National Assembly on Saturday. “I am telling my members, this is your democratic right, you can say you don’t stand with Imran Khan. I will respect you. Okay I am not competent or qualified, raise your hands and say this and I will go into opposition,” he said. “If I do not remain in power or sit on opposition benches, it does not make any difference to me. I will continue struggling for rule of law, and fighting these thieves and dacoits till I am alive,” he asserted. Shaming those who had told him they would vote for him, but then because of a secret ballot went against party lines, the prime minister said that they ‘must think of the hereafter’. Imran Khan then took to task the ECP for failing to ensure a transparent election. “Your biggest responsibility is a transparent election and it is your constitutional responsibility,” he said to the ECP. “Why did you go to the court and say there should be a secret ballot? Does the constitution ever allow a theft of votes and for bribery to occur like has been in the last 30 years?” he asked. He said the court had allowed the Commission to hold a secret vote but have some sort of identification mechanism whereby the PTI could now have discovered the 15-16 lawmakers “who sold themselves off”. “You saved those criminals with this secret ballot and you hurt our democracy,” he said, in indignation at the ECP’s move to ignore the Supreme Court’s provisions to identify the ballots. “Did you not know it was your responsibility to investigate such incidents? All the agencies fall under you. This entire drama unfolded in front of everyone,” he said, referring to the video where lawmakers can be seen shovelling currency notes into their bags. “When the country’s leadership takes and gives bribes, will you ask the common man to become honest then but do these things yourself?” He quoted a Chinese saying that says “fish rots from the top”. “You allowed corruption to occur at the top, and this happened right before you, and you knew it would happen. I kept saying that markets have opened and there is an auction going on. And when the Supreme Court gave you a chance, what reason was there to not bar code a mere 1,500 ballots?” the premier asked in exasperation. “You provided an opportunity for the country’s democracy to be discredited […] I ask you has the strength of our democracy gone up or down with this open horse-trading?” he went on to ask the ECP. The prime minister mentioned the video and audio leaks of Ali Haider Gilani depicting the distribution of money among some members of the parliament ahead of the Senate elections, and questioned whether it was democracy. The whole drama staged by the opposition parties in favour of secret ballot and opposing open ballot in the Senate elections, he said, was only to get Yousaf Raza Glani elected as a senator through unfair means. “If there was an open ballot, the PTI’s candidate would have been elected in the Senate elections [on general seat from the federal capital],” he remarked. Imran Khan regretted that despite agreeing on the holding of Senate elections through open ballot in the Charter of Democracy (COD) signed by PPP and PML-N and also in later statements, they now opposed the idea of open balloting to pave the way for corruption. He said since he was opposed to secret balloting in the Senate elections, his government introduced a bill in the Parliament for open ballot and also approached the Supreme Court for that purpose. He, however, added that the opposition parties not only opposed the government’s bill in the National Assembly but also stood against the idea of open ballot during the Supreme Court’s hearing. Imran Khan said when a senator is elected by spending lot of money, how he/she can serve democracy. “What examples we are setting for our generations,” he remarked. He said the whole nation knew that Yousaf Raza Glani was a man who being a prime minister in the past did not write a letter to the authorities in Switzerland for the repatriation of $ 60 million despite the instructions of Supreme Court and preferred to be disqualified. “If that money of around Rs 8 to 9 billion [stashed abroad through illegal means] would have come back to the country, it would have been used for the construction of schools, hospitals and other things,” he remarked. The opposition parties, he added, were now celebrating the election of a person as senator, who was disqualified in the past for not obeying the orders of the apex court. “They are thinking that if they will hang a sword of no-confidence on me, I will give them an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance),” Imran Khan said. “Those, who has indulged in taking and giving money [in the Senate elections], should also think about the life hereafter,” he remarked. Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed the determination to continue his struggle for rule of law and purging the country of corruption and the corrupt till he was alive and even did not remain in power. He 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. Imran Khan also spoke of the Financial Action Task Force’s listing of Pakistan as a “grey list” country. He explained that Pakistan is required to do what FATF says, otherwise it will be “blacklisted” and “sanctioned”. “The sanctions mean that our rupee will fall and then inflation rises […] anything that is imported becomes expensive,” he said, counting fuel, electricity, pulses, ghee, and wheat as the commodities most affected. The premier went on to say that the parliament together had to bring about legislation as per FATF’s requirement but the Opposition refused to do so, instead subjecting it to their condition of a concession under the National Reconciliation Ordinance. “What does NAB have to do with any of this? They have a one-point agenda to pressure me to get an NRO,” he said. PM Imran Khan said they planned to “use money” to “break our party apart” and bring PTI lawmakers over to their side. “When Hafeez Sheikh was sought by them to lose, it was so the government loses majority and to paint the perception that party members walked over to their side, so a no confidence motion could be moved,” he said. “The real objective was to hang the sword of a vote of confidence over my head and blackmail me so I give them [a concession under] an NRO,” he added. The prime minister then made an impassioned plea to the nation to no longer let corruption be acceptable. He said that corruption is not eradicated through laws, it is something that the society and nation clamps down on collectively. “The nation sends out a message that one who engages in corruption is not among us. Their daughters will not be wed off to them and they will not be invited to parties,” said the premier. The prime minister also criticised certain journalists who make a case for such “corrupt” elements. “These big journalists go to the court and say that Nawaz Sharif should be allowed to broadcast his speech,” he said. “These leaders who have run off abroad, where did they get the money? And here you are asking for them to be able to make their speech,” the premier said in disbelief. “And when such a corrupt man comes out of jail, he is showered with rose petals,” added, referring to PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz’s release from Kot Lakhpat jail after a 20-month-long imprisonment on corruption charges. “Are we concerned about our children and the future generations? I ask the entire nation: if you accept them […] is it only me then that is after them? This is your collective responsibility.” “My Pakistanis, please realise, it is [your duty as well] to make your country flourish. Or will you compromise for these thieves? It is not my money that was stolen. It was all our money. They make money on contacts, on roads. They line their pockets like this,” the premier explained. The prime minister, addressing the Pakistan Democratic Movement, said that it makes not an ounce of difference to him if he loses power. “I have no set up factories, given my relatives positions of power, or bought homes in Mayfair. I live in my home and bear my own expenses. This is because I fear the Lord and my people are going hungry. I have a message for you all: Whether I am in the Opposition or out of the Assembly. I will never let you off the hook until you return the country’s looted wealth,” he said. The premier said he will show them how the nation can be rallied when it is a question of saving their own money. He said he will continue to combat the “traitors of Pakistan” and the country will regain its lost glory “when they are all in jail”.