PTI’s lobbying firm in US against Pak nukes: Musadik Malik

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik Saturday said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s fake narrative of regime change operation had been exposed after its US chapter hired the services of a firm to maintain relations with the American administration.

“The PTI hired the services of a firm headed by David Fenton, who has been stressing denuclearisation of Pakistan, and he has written several books on it.

“Now Imran Khan should tell the nation who is a traitor,” the PMLN leader told a news conference here.

Musadik Malik said: “On the one hand, Imran Khan claimed that his government was changed as a result of foreign conspiracy and, on the other hand, he hired the services of a firm to improve relations with the same country.” He said Imran Khan was misleading the nation through his regime change conspiracy. He should tell the truth to the nation about the firm named Feton Group, hired by his party in the US for lobbying there.

Musadik said the PTI chief made a mockery of the nation by spreading lies that the coalition government was foreign sponsored to weaken Pakistan. “The PTI chief and other party leaders want that no institution should question their conduct, nor ask them about the amount of prohibited funding received from different countries,” he added.

The minister said the PTI used the donations to run the affairs of the party and received funds from over 350 foreign companies. The details in this regard were provided by the State Bank of Pakistan to the Election Commission when Imran Khan was in power.

He said the PTI government had not deposited billions of rupees, recovered from a business tycoon in the United Kingdom, in the national exchequer, adding that the former special assistant to prime minister on accountability Dr Shahzad Akbar managed the entire process and “settled the whole matter. “In exchange for the deal, the PTI chief got 458 kanals of land in the name of Al-Qadir Trust,” the minister added.

Musadik said Imran Khan took prohibited funding of billions of rupees from Arif Naqvi, which was illegal as per the law as no political party could get funds from anyone other than Pakistani citizens.

He wondered if Nawaz Sharif could be removed from office and jailed for not withdrawing salary from his son, then why Imran Khan, who was declared guilty of crime in the foreign funding case, should not be held accountable. He said the PTI chief wanted midnight opening of the court and decisions in his favour like the decisions given in the past by Maulvi Tameezuddin and Zafar Ali Shah.

Musadik Malik said that Imran Khan wanted to control all national institutions and if an institution did not decide in his favour, he would give mutiny calls against it. He said that unfortunately, in a case against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leader Maryam Nawaz, the court had remanded her for 45 days while a person, who gave a call for mutiny, had been sent on remand for only two days. He said that application of the law should be equal for all citizens of the country.