Ex-PTI official spills beans on controversial issues

ISLAMABAD: A senior PTI dissident leader, while making some shocking revelations against a few sitting ministers of alleged corruption, has also revealed that members of the establishment were behind the 2014 sit-in to topple the Nawaz Sharif’s government.

It may, however, be mentioned that Fawad Chaudhry had not joined the PTI till 2016.In an exclusive interview with journalist Asad Ali Toor, the former secretary information of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Ahmad Jawad claimed that the establishment supported PTI’s 2014 sit-in. “Although, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif was not part of this conspiracy but former ISI Chief General Zaheerul Islam was behind the sit-in. Fawad Chaudhry played the role of a messenger between the establishment and the PTI,” he claimed.

High-ranking PTI officials not only rubbished Ahmed Jawad's assertions as nothing but "anger-based rant" but said the party would be taking necessary action against him for breaking party discipline.

Speaking from Turkey, Jawad also claimed that just a week before the Supreme Court’s verdict on Imran Khan and Jahangir Khan Tareen disqualification case, Khan was informed that one of the two would be disqualified in a balancing act to avoid public criticism. "Jahangir Khan Tareen was also present in the meeting when Khan was informed about this decision and obviously Tareen was very upset," claimed the former PTI official. To a question about the judiciary’s role in Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification in the Panama Papers, Jawad opined that there was some resentment against Nawaz Sharif when he refused to give an extension to Raheel Sharif. Talking about the alleged corruption of PTI ministers, Ahmad Jawad said everyone in the party ranks knew about the federal minister for ports and shipping Ali Zaidi’s corruption. “I once handed over the evidences against Zaidi’s corruption to [Senator] Saifullah Niazi. He forwarded these evidences of corruption to Governor Sindh Imran Ismail who confirmed that these allegations were 99 per cent true. Later, Saifullah Niazi forwarded these evidences to Imran Khan as well but he took no action against Zaidi,” claimed Ahmad Jawad. Describing the award of the Diamer Bhasha Dam construction contract worth billions to Razak Dawood’s company, Jawad questioned what could be a bigger case of conflict of interest. “There are serious allegations of corruption against Razak Dawood but Imran Khan is silent on it. Even the media is silent on the wrongdoings of the ministers,” he commented. He also claimed that two senior leaders of the party have made millions recently through corrupt practices. “I can only give a hint that this corruption is related to recent elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”

Talking about Imran Khan’s financiers, Ahmad Jawad said ATMs or financiers are necessary for the party because it needed money for expenses. “We believed that after coming into power, Imran Khan will never compromise but it is unfortunate that people of dubious credentials, parashooters have prevailed. Khan always appreciated those who are good in badmouthing the opposition. Decent persons cannot get closer to Imran Khan because he doesn’t like those who believe in good manners or decency,” commented Jawad. In an almost an hour-long interview, the former secretary information of PTI also revealed many things, including how Imran Khan appointed those who are now close to him. How he chooses his spokesperson and what they tell him in the meetings. He also criticised Imran Khan’s political skills in scathing terms. “A very senior party leader had requested Imran to become the president rather than the prime minister. His reasoning was that if would be disastrous for the country if a person with no experience of administration, management and human resource abilities became a prime minister.”

Saying that he belonged to South Punjab, Jawad also revealed that local-level officers of the establishment were directly involved in nominating or selecting the PTI candidates for the 2018 elections.