Don’t slander, but tell how you took money out, Imran asks PM

Says if Nawaz hasn’t done anything wrong, he should have declared his assets in parliament like British PM Cameron did; ad campaign launched against opposition leaders with people’s money

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will have to explain to the nation how he took his wealth out from Pakistan, adding that his address to public meetings will be a useless exercise.

Imran announced that they were going to approach the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the government’s media cell for defending the corruption of the prime minister’s family and slinging mud at opposition leaders.

“How can Nawaz defend his family with the tax-payers’ money,” he wondered.

Speaking to media persons outside his Bani Gala residence prior to leaving for Lahore, where he will lead a rally on Sunday (today) for a probe into revelations in the PanamaLeaks, he said the prime minister faced four allegations: corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and how he transferred his wealth abroad. 

He said the prime minister would have to give answers (to these questions) and claimed the entire opposition had reached a consensus on this.

Imran lamented that with people’s money, an advertisement campaign in the media was under way against the opposition leaders instead of explaining to the nation the questions raised in the wake of PanamaLeaks. 

He asserted had Nawaz not done anything wrong, he would have declared his assets in parliament, as did British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Imran noted that neither he, nor Khursheed Shah nor Jehangir Tareen had been mentioned in the Panama Leaks but Nawaz Sharif’s family owed an explanation to the nation on how he transferred money abroad and then bought assets there.

“The government does not blackmail, rather it takes action against criminals and arrests them. Our objection to Nawaz is as to how was his wealth was transferred abroad,” he maintained.

Imran contended that people wanted to know how Nawaz Sharif accumulated so much wealth and so many assets and how much tax he had paid. “It is my duty as a politician and my democratic right to ask about the assets of the prime ministers’ family and how much tax he had paid over the years,” he said.

Imran asked the prime minister to share details of taxes he had paid during the last six years, alleging he had no moral justification now to stay in office. He claimed Nawaz had no right to level allegations against his opponents.

Asked about the PML-N leaders’ statement about staging a sit-in outside  Imran’s residence in Bani Gala, he wondered what they  would be asking from him, as his asset and tax details were already declared and even available on the PTI website.

“The weather here is quite fine, no problem if Abid Sher Ali comes here,” he said in a lighter mood, referring to the state minister’s threat of a sit-in here.

Asked what would be his comment in case the prime minister did not agree to the changes they wanted in the terms of reference, he said it would clearly mean he wanted to hide a crime. And, he added, this would set a new trend that if someone commits a crime, they would decide what type of probe would be conducted.

About some reports of his having offshore properties in the name of his children, PTI’s senior leader Jehangir Khan Tareen said: “Like the children of Nawaz, my children also have property abroad but there’s a difference … I earned wealth in a legal way and transferred it abroad after paying taxes, but this was not done in Nawaz Sharif’s case”.  

Tareen said he had Rs70 billion assets and all were in Pakistan and the record of the same was available with the FBR. He said he had shared details with the media as well but the story that appeared in a section of the media was a twisted one.