Punjab CM got over Rs26 bn kickbacks, alleges Imran

Asks Shahbaz to step down; independent judiciary can save country from rulers’ corruption; dubs Khursheed ‘Double Shah’

ISLAMABAD: The Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, on Wednesday alleged that Javed Sadiq, a Pakistani Canadian, was Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s frontman, charging both were involved in receiving multi-billion rupees kickbacks in development projects.

Speaking to journalists here, Imran, who shared with them ‘documentary evidence’ including images of Javed Sadiq present in official meetings and having put his signatures on agreements, challenged Shahbaz Sharif to now step down, as his corruption had been exposed.

Imran ruled out the possibility of Pakistan making progress in the presence of a corrupt prime minister. He maintained the corruption by the two Sharif brothers was legal, whereas the PTI protest against corruption was illegal.

The PTI chairman noted that he had a match on November 02 with ‘corruption 11’ led by skipper Nawaz Sharif.

According to the documents, Javed Sadiq is a consultant of four projects: the New Islamabad International Airport (2011-2016), Software Technology Park (Arfa Kareem) Towers (2007-11), Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park, Bahawalpur (Zone Energy) (2014-15) and Multan-Sukkur CPEC Motorway Section (2016-18). The name of his firm is Business Control Solution and Javed Sadiq Management and the total amount of alleged commission is Rs26.5 billion. The commission from these projects is: Rs1 percent or Rs250 million, Rs6.5 percent or Rs300 million, 7 percent or Rs11 billion and 5 percent or Rs15 billion, respectively.

“Javed Sadiq, a Canadian citizen, is seen in numerous meetings with Shahbaz Sharif. He (Punjab CM) receives kickbacks through him,” Imran alleged. He claimed Javed Sadiq had so far received Rs15 billion as commission and consultancy charges in several provincial projects, and was due to get another Rs26 billion.

Imran contended that only Rs50-70 million would go to Javed and the remaining entire amount into the pocket of Shahbaz Sharif.

Referring to a recent statement by the Punjab chief minister that he would resign if Re1 corruption was proved against him, Imran claimed that people are approaching him and making revelations about Shahbaz’s corruption.

He said Javed Sadiq was seen at every meeting with investors and received commission and hence he was Shahbaz Sharif’s frontman who received kickbacks for him.

The PTI chairman claimed people were coming up highlighting the Sharif brothers’ corruption. He said more such explosions would be made in the run-up to the November 02 lockdown of the federal capital.

Imran reiterated that he would go back home if the prime minister agreed to accountability under the terms of reference (ToRs) forwarded by the opposition or stepped down with regard to the Panama Papers revelations.

Earlier, addressing members of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), Imran said Pakistan was a great nation but being unfortunately ruled by the corrupt and asserted that only an independent judiciary could save the country from the rulers’ corruption.

Imran recalled that the mystery of security meeting leak was to be resolved within four days but it was not done and alleged that the wording of the news and Modi’s viewpoint appeared identical.

Imran described Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah as ‘Double Shah’ and alleged how would he oppose Nawaz Sharif when he himself had corruption cases in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He said the PTI wanted accountability without derailing democracy but the Sharifs were not ready for that and had been dilly-dallying for the last seven months. Imran said they had been waging a struggle against corruption.

Imran pointed out that the Panama Papers had revealed that Maryam Nawaz owned offshore companies but the prime minister lied in parliament. He said Nawaz admitted that they purchased the London flats in 2006, whereas his spouse Begum Kulsoom Nawaz in an interview said the flats were bought in 1990s.

Faisal Kamal Pasha adds: Imran Khan said the judicial commission to probe transparency of the 2013 elections gave 40 findings against the election process where 35 percent of the ‘form 15’ were missing. “This means 25 million votes were missing and despite the fact it was said in the verdict that election was largely lawful,” he said.

“In no other country, this could have been in a judgment but only in a ‘Banana Republic’ like Pakistan,” Imran said.

Imran said the morality of the nation had been destroyed by the ruling class. He said an impression is being created that corruption is acceptable in our society as we are neither Britain nor Iceland. “Are Britain and Iceland morally superior? An impression has been created that we as a nation are corrupt,” he said

Before his speech, different office bearers of IHCBA put a few requests before him that he (Imran Khan) did not agree to. One such request was not to lock down the city as children were attending schools and their examinations were on.

Responding to this request, the chairman said Islamabad residents should think that 25 percent children in this country were malnourished and under grown which means they don’t find enough food to grow fully to their physical and mental capacity. “0.25 million children die due to contaminated water and 25 million children are out of schools. Those who live in big mansions and roam around in luxury cars and don’t even pay taxes should think about these marginalised communities,” he said.

Imran said the government had destroyed the Federal Board Of Revenue (FBR) and NAB. He said Nawaz Sharif and Khursheed Shah jointly appointed the NAB chairman who is a corrupt person.