ISLAMABAD: The incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman, Imran Khan, on Tuesday, rejected the rumours of any deal with the powers that be, saying neither anyone has approached him nor he has received any message for striking a deal.
Talking to the media after hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case, he said the question is, why they would make a deal with me. “On the day of general elections [February 8] people stood on a side; it was the time to negotiate,” he said.
Khan said Punjab police interfered during the recent bye-elections on April 21. The bye-elections were held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but police did not register any case against anyone, he said, adding there was no democracy in the country.
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He said that elections were delayed from February to October and were aimed at crashing PTI.
The PTI founder said that democracy was mandatory for a stable government which was possible only through fair and transparent elections. The present setup in the country was causing damage to the country, he said.
He said his wife had nothing to do with politics, adding she had been awarded a sentence and locked in a room. “Cases have been registered against my three sisters,” he said.
Khan said “we had good relations with Saudi Arabia, due to which the OIC Foreign Minister’s conference was held during his government.
Earlier, Accountability Court judge Nasir Javed Rana, while hearing the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust recorded statements of more than six witnesses.
The PTI founding chairman and Bushra Bibi’s lawyers, Usman Gull, Zaheer Abbas Chaudhry, and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, appeared before the court.
During the hearing, the defence counsel completed cross-examination of two more witnesses. So far, the court recorded statements of 21 witnesses and defence counsels completed cross-examination of 15 prosecution witnesses.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case till April 29.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024