Chohan calls TI report fake, points out timing

LAHORE:Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan has said that Transparency International's report is a failed attempt at maligning the credibility of the PTI government.

In a statement issued on Friday, he said, “This fake report has deliberately been released at a time when Prime Minister Imran Khan is effectively advocating Pakistan's agenda at the World Economic Forum 2020.”

He added that Adil Gilani, head of Transparency International (TI) Pakistan, was appointed by Mian Nawaz Sharif as special assistant to the Prime Minister's Office during his tenure, which is why he deliberately ignored previous regime's corruption and unending list of mega scandals.

Hinting at the “self-contradictory contents” of the said report, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chauhan said that on one hand, the report was praising NAB for recovering Rs153 billion, on the other, surprisingly, rise in corruption level was being pointed out.

At a time when the World Bank and other international financial institutions were praising Pakistan's economic policies, the world was recognising Pakistan as an attractive destination for investment and tourism, international teams were visiting and playing in Pakistan and overall situation was moving towards betterment, this report by Transparency International looks like a willful attempt at political victimization, said the Punjab minister. He added that unlike the previous regime of Sharif family, no scandal had surfaced against any person and family of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar.