Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Monday lambasted the confrontational approach the ruling PML-N has adopted towards the military and the superior judiciary in wake of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's disqualification in Panama Leaks case. Speaking to media persons here, he said that the incumbent Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his entire cabinet is busy protecting a 'criminal' [Nawaz Sharif] through targeting the state institutions, which the PTI will not tolerate.
He also said that Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal had staged a 'drama' in the capital on Monday as Nawaz appeared before an accountability court for a hearing regarding several graft cases opened against him by top anti-graft body [NAB]. "Rangers have suddenly appeared and taken over this place," Iqbal had said as he lashed out at the paramilitary force for barring PML-N leaders, lawyers and supporters of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from entering an accountability court in Islamabad.
Khan said Iqbal's statement would create conflict among the country's institutions. "The way "Aristotle" [Ahsan Iqbal] is talking of 'state-within-the-state' reflects what he wants to say. "What a minister has to do in an accountability court, especially after the court sought help of Rangers to bar entry of these ministers," he questioned. According to PTI chairman, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is intentionally trying to exert pressure on state institutions, and any attempt to pressure the courts will cost the government dearly, as the PTI has made all the plans of mass agitation in case of threat to institutions.
He reiterated his party's call for early elections, saying the only solution to steer the country out of the prevailing political and economic crisis is to hold fresh polls. He called for a future of "real democracy" in the country which is not possible unless status quo politicians will stay there. "We are thankful to the judiciary because their judgment gave us a new hope, as for the first time, a mighty has been made accountable for his wrongdoing, which is unprecedented" Khan said.
About the Elections Bill, 2017 which was passed by National Assembly and will become law after signing by President, he said that it was not acceptable and his party will challenge the controversial law in the apex court as it is solely meant to pave the way for Nawaz Sharif to be reelected as party president. "This bill will provide an opportunity to a criminal to become the head of a party," Khan said, referring to the former prime minister. "You are creating a law for a criminal," Khan said, adding that the moral conscience of the country is being jeopardized.
"Does this happen in democracies? Democracy means transparency," Khan said. Under the bill, the legal bar on a person to serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is either not qualified to be, or disqualified from being, elected as a member of parliament under Article 63 of the Constitution was removed, paving the way for an otherwise ineligible Nawaz Sharif to head his own faction of PML-N.
The PTI chief also spoke with reference to the ongoing case against him in the Supreme Court, which seeks his disqualification over non-disclosure of assets, ownership of offshore companies and receiving foreign funding for his party. Khan claimed that he had submitted complete details of his finances and documents pertaining to the money trail for his Draycott flat in London.
"I am being compared to the country's biggest criminal," Khan said, again referring to the former prime minister. The PTI chief said that while the Sharif family had not submitted any evidence or money trail before the apex court during the Panama Papers case, he had done it in the disqualification case against him - a statement so far found wanting by the Supreme Court, which has directed him to establish, beyond a doubt, how a considerable sum of money was transferred to Khan's ex-wife, Jemima Khan's bank account.
"In Bani Gala case, I have submitted all the documents of about forty years, and remaining money trail of $100,000 out of total $ 650,000, has also been traced by Jemima Khan, which we will submit to the court as the money trail for $55,000 had already been submitted," he said. Khan also publicly endorsed Shah Mehmood Qureshi as a replacement for the PPP's Khursheed Shah as opposition leader, saying he was one of the most experienced parliamentarians in Pakistan. However, he clarified that he would consult opposition parties over the proposal before making a formal move.
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