PTI senior leaders defend Imran over audio leak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leaders on Wednesday came to the fore to defend the alleged leaked conversation of former prime minister Imran Khan and the-then principal secretary Azam Khan wherein they are discussing the ‘US cipher’ they blame for ousting the PTI government in the Centre.

Fawad Chaudhry was the first to react. “The new leaks only confirm the attempt to hide the US cable from the-then prime minister Imran Khan,” Fawad wrote on Twitter, minutes after the audio surfaced.While speaking to the media later, Fawad said that this is the first case of an audio leak from the PM House. “The Supreme Court must take notice and order investigations,” he said.

The politician said that facts about the audio leaks will be revealed when they are probed. Fawad said that there is no solution to ensure cyber security as any hacker can hack. He further stated that he doubts that Indian hackers were behind the leaks.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Hammad Azhar said when Imran Khan was the prime minister, his government was removed following the “exact same script as was given in the cipher”. “Let that sink in,” he said. “I think the cipher should be released now and the people of Pakistan should decide whether it was a conspiracy or even more than that.”

Imran Khan’s then special assistant for overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, Zulfi Bukhari, also joined the league and said that the leaked audio “further strengthens” PTI’s stance. He said that the audio is “completely in agreement” with the PTI’s narrative. “The cipher was hidden from the PM,” he tweeted.

“Best possibility was to bring into bureaucratic records-everything mentioned in cipher & written by ambassador. Great job putting up this audio, further strengthens our stance,” he wrote. Meanwhile, PTI leader Ali Zaidi said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made another violation by letting “an official of the PM House release a voice note”, recorded inside the PM House. He requested the apex court to probe the “foreign-funded regime change”.

“Investigations into the foreign-funded regime change would expose the ones who have actually looted Pakistan, who have harmed Pakistan and who is the foreign agent in this country,” Zaidi said in a video statement released by the PTI.