Imran’s protest only an attempt to protect his narrative: Sherry

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Senator Sherry Rehman Thursday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan now calling for protests was only an attempt to protect his narrative, which was nothing but empty words.

While commenting on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decision on the PTI prohibited foreign funding, she said that the ECP had come out with hard evidence against the party. The PPP leader called for a transparent investigation into Imran Khan’s and the PTI’s records, resignation from the party leadership, following the ECP verdict that declared the party guilty.

“Imran Khan always espouses a constant narrative of anti-corruption and a holier-than-thou attitude, yet even now, he asks for the resignation from the chief election commissioner, instead of realising it is too late to contest anything when it is out in the open,” she said.

The minister for climate change said the PTI demanded investigation against others after hiding its 13 accounts from the ECP and the scrutiny committee and failing to mention the other three accounts. “Here the PTI decided to play the reverse card, trying their best to shift the focus towards other parties,” she said.

Sherry said Asad Umar stated that he would file a petition against the ECP in the Islamabad High Court for “not deciding the PPP and the PMLN funding cases at the same time”. “However, how will this absolve the PTI of their wrongdoings,” she said. They lied and hid information regarding their political funding as there were 34 unknown accounts, she added.

She said their response to the verdict went from “so what”, followed by their “lack of knowledge” and finally “maybe a little funding”, which was not a viable defence. “Had they ‘not known’, they would not have been actively hiding those accounts nor pressurising the ECP,” she added.

She asked Imran Khan to stop humiliating the nation and disrespecting democracy, “The PTI has been exposed in front of the entire nation and their voters”. Senator Sherry said the party had ruined Pakistan’s reputation not just nationally but internationally as well. “Now is the time for important decisions; we need to witness justice,” she said. The minister said the verdict should make everyone questioning Imran Khan’s integrity, moral values, and the democratic spirit he hyper-fixates on.