Says he won’t back off on Panama Papers issue; asks Nawaz to take nation into confidence; puts four questions to PM
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday said the entire nation stood by the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif for an across-the-board accountability to clean the stables of corruption in the country.
Imran said he would not back off on the Panama Papers issue and suggested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take the nation into confidence instead of leveling baseless allegations against the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.
Speaking at a news conference at the Chief Minister's House here, Imran Khan said the proposed inquiry commission would present its report after completing its investigation but the prime minister should respond to his questions as to when he purchased the flats in London, how he transferred money abroad and whether he paid any taxes on that amount.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, cabinet members Mohammad Atif Khan and Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Members Provincial Assembly Dr Haider Ali and Shaukat Yousafzai and others were also present on the occasion.
The PTI chief said instead of responding to the controversial Panama Papers leaks the prime minister and his ministers had resorted to blackmail to silence him by attacking the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.
Imran added he was unable to understand the need for holding a demonstration outside the residence of his children's grandmother in London.
Imran Khan recalled that corruption of Rs12 billion was reported daily during the previous rule of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Rs700 billion taxes were evaded.
Half of the national income, he maintained, was being used to pay the interest on loans obtained during the previous governments headed by Nawaz Sharif.
The PTI chief pointed out that British Prime Minister David Cameron presented his six years income and taxes to the nation instead of criticising the opposition.
He advised the prime minister to come clean about the allegations instead of maligning a hospital meant for the poor.
Imran Khan said Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital was located in Lahore where the prime minister's party had been ruling for eight years.
"The PML-N government should have arrested those responsible for corruption if there was any," he stressed.
He explained that he was ready to present the hospital accounts to any audit firm and commission, adding that such tactics would not put pressure on him to abandon the Panama Papers issue.
Earlier, General Raheel during his visit to the Signal Regimental Centre in Kohat, had said: "Across the board accountability is necessary for the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistan . . . armed forces will fully support every meaningful effort in that direction, which would ensure a better future for our next generations."
He also voiced his support for Army Chief General Raheel Sharif's statement on "across the board accountability."
"Now that the army chief has also issued a statement in this regard, Chairman NAB should also initiate action," Imran Khan argued.
He said Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said her family had no property abroad, while his two sons were issuing contradictory statements. The wife of the premier, he said, had admitted that they had purchased the apartments in 2000.
Imran Khan said he would contact the political parties on Panama Papers issue and would see as to which party came to Nawaz Sharif's rescue.
He said protests and sits-in were part of democracy but such democratic norms were alien to Nawaz Sharif.
"Nawaz's democracy is worse than that of Musharraf’s dictatorship," he maintained. "Citizens are being killed in broad daylight and unemployment and loadshedding have made life miserable for thepeople," he said.
Imran Khan said the new accountability act would be stronger and fair and all apprehensions of the Ehtesab Commission's former head Lt Gen (R) Hamid Khan would be removed.
He said the war on terrorism was not yet over and complete peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could only be achieved after restoration of peace in Afghanistan.
He said the decision to undertake the military operation against the dacoits in Rajanpur in Punjab has proved the capacity of the Punjab Police.
He appreciated the KP Police for fighting terrorism. He said the other provinces would follow the KP Police Act.
Without naming Asfandyar Wali Khan, Imran Khan recalled that the ANP chief could only stay in the presidential palace in Islamabad or abroad in Malaysia and elsewhere during his party's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but now the situation had improved when the PTI was in power and he can live in his house in the province.
The PTI chief hoped the Bank of Khyber (BoK) issue would be resolved within 48 hours. He said there was no corruption in BoK affairs but it was an issue of interference in its administrative affairs.
His statement was being construed as a rebuff to the JI-affiliated Finance Minister Muzaffar Said and support to the bank's managing director Shamsul Qayyum.
