Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has demanded constitution of an independent committee to monitor the relief work in quake-hit areas, while the loans pledged by the international community during the donor's conference should be rejected, which would add more burden on the country.
He expressed these views while addressing a press conference held here on Wednesday.
He was flanked by PTI Chief Co-ordinator Air Marshal Shahid Zulfiqar (Retd) and PTI Punjab, President Admiral Javed Iqbal (Retd).
Imran showed mistrust on Relief Commissioner on handling the relief work and added that there was no check on him. He advocated for independent audit of relief funds. He was of the view that the parliamentary committee constituted to overlook the relief work was also useless; prior to its constitution it would have been proper if an inquiry was held to ascertain the facts behind the delay in the army efforts in the quake-hit areas. "General Musharraf says 'it takes five days to mobilise the army', if that was the case, there was guard against foreign invasion," he added.
According to him, the government should reject the loans offered by the donor countries for rehabilitation work, and instead it should go for austerity drive. "It has been learnt that at the cost of Rs 5 billion, the government was planning to construct a new GHQ, which we do not need," he added.
While being critical of the army regime's performance, the PTI Chief said that its performance only reflects on TV, whereas there was nothing to prove on ground. He averred that he has lost trust in General Musharraf, since he has made a habit of breaking promises, the last one being backing out on removing his uniform.