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Imran warns of Raiwand gherao if demands not met

By Mumtaz Alvi
April 11, 2016

Panama Leaks


Says Nawaz has lost moral justification to stay in office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down after two offshore companies were unearthed in his name as well and said he had lost the moral justification to stay in office.

In his unique address to the nation from the lawns of his Bani Gala residence, the PTI chief gave a deadline to the prime minister to resign or a commission under the chief justice of the Supreme Court be formed and audit expertise from abroad must be involved to probe the Panama Leaks. He warned that people would beseige the Sharifs’ Raiwind estate and stage a sit-in there until the demands were met.

“The premier has lost the moral authority to continue running the affairs of the state as he is accused of money-laundering, tax evasion, corruption and the concealment of assets,” Imran asserted.

He claimed Pakistan had a bleak future if two major challenges were not tackled head-on: rampant corruption and tax evasion, mostly by the leading politicians. “Pakistan will not be viable if these two menaces are not tackled,” he warned.

Imran pointed out that a body of the United Nations and the World Bank had the name of Nawaz Sharif against two offshore companies. He made a promise to the nation that he would not back off this time and continue to push for the demands to be met.

Imran cautioned that if his demands were not met, he would unveil his future line of action on April 24 here in Islamabad and asserted if the rulers did not listen, lakhs of people would besiege Sharif’s Raiwind estate and stage a sit-in there.

“We will surround Raiwind with millions of people to press the premier to either constitute an independent judicial commission or step down,” he maintained.Imran alleged that the prime minister had told a lie and misled the nation. “Mian Sahib, all the proofs have been pocketed and now things would go far beyond your expectations,” he remarked.

The PTI chief said had even a single out of the massive allegations levelled against Nawaz been aired against British Prime Minister David Cameron, he would have stepped down and would have been behind the bars.

Incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, he noted, had submitted a 45-page affidavit, carrying details of money laundering done on behalf of Nawaz Sharif, which gave the picture about how the money was transferred abroad and offshore companies established and properties purchased.

The PTI chairman said Dar had also mentioned the name of Saeed Ahmad with regards to money-laundering, who was now made the deputy head of the State Bank of Pakistan as a gift for this service to Nawaz. He alleged this was exactly the same way in which Najam Sethi was made the head of PCB after he managed the win of Nawaz Sharif in the 2013 elections and today Pakistan’s cricket was in tatters.

For his services, Dar was today the Finance Minister of Pakistan, Imran continued. He added Dar’s two sons owned two towers in Gulf, worth Rs20 billion.He recalled Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, for whom he had utmost respect, had given an interview to the Guardian in 2000, wherein she admitted they had purchased Mayfair flats for their sons. However, he pointed out, their sons claimed the flats were bought in 2007.

A massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents on April 3 exposed the secret offshore dealings of hundreds of world leaders and celebrities, also naming three of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children for owning the London real estate through offshore companies worth several billions. Imran alleged Nawaz transferred his money made out of corruption in the name of his children, who set up offshore companies.

“We ended the landmark sit-in because of a horrific incident (Army Public School tragedy). But this time we will not back off, we will go to Raiwind. “We are giving you time until April 24 to meet our demands,” Imran said, while mentioning an ongoing global probe into the revelations.

The PTI chairman urged the nation to take benefit of the defining moment and rise against the corrupt rulers. “This is the time to rise and if the masses will not struggle at this time, everything is bound to be destroyed,” the PTI chairman warned.

“The money hidden abroad through offshore companies is no more secret and demands that a struggle be waged against the wrongdoing. Panama Leaks are in fact from Allah and the umpire has given his decision,” he added.Imran noted that 10 years back, Pakistan’s total debt stood at Rs5,000 billion and today, it was Rs21,000 billion and in just three years, Rs5,000 billion loans had been obtained, asking who would pay back these loans.

The PTI chief appeared concerned about the mounting loans and said that on daily basis, the PML-N government was borrowing Rs6 billion. He added that while millions had been spent on prime minister’s foreign visits, no foreign investment was coming to Pakistan and exports were also tumbling continuously.

He wondered how would investors come to Pakistan and invest here when the rulers were shifting their capital abroad and had set up offshore companies.Imran alleged that Nawaz Sharif used the national television to defend his family and misled the nation on the Panama Leaks issue.

He regretted that when Nawaz loyalists failed to find anything wrong about him, they tried to destroy the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital by levelling allegations against it.

He wondered if the Nawaz Leaguers would be answerable to their party leadership or Allah Almighty on the Judgment Day.

Regarding the refusal of request to deliver speech on Pakistan Television, Imran said that being the head of the second largest party of the country, he had the right to address the nation.On Friday, the government rejected the PTI’s demand to broadcast Imran Khan’s speech live on state television, saying only the president and the prime minister have the right.