The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Tuesday accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of misleading the nation, saying the "new document" submitted with the Supreme Court is nothing new but "an old pack of lies with twisted facts". Speaking at a news conference, the PML-N leaders including Minister for Privatisation Mohammad Zubair and MNA Daniyal Aziz lashed out at the PTI chief, describing him a "master of U-turns."
Zubair maintained that despite Supreme Court's warnings to avoid political gimmick on Panama Leaks case, Imran Khan continued to influence the apex court and pressurise the institutions through media talks. In Panama Leaks, he said, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was never mentioned and the party through its lawyers will plead the court to de-link him [PM] from the entire episode. "Hence, the Prime Minister has never been mentioned in Panama papers, therefore, our lawyers would plead in the court that his name be removed from this case in any reference and that he should not be dragged in the case anymore," he said.
However, he added as the Prime Minister's children are named in the Panama papers, he [PM] has all the right to defend them. Referring to allegations levelled by Imran Khan, Zubair advised the PTI chief to prove these allegations before the court instead of creating 'media hype.' He claimed that the ruling party has all the 'irrefutable' evidence and documents to defend the Prime Minister and his family in the court.
"We are not scared of anything. We know what the PTI chairman was presenting before the media are all old lies but with the twisted facts," he maintained, adding the Prime Minister's family has always maintained its integrity in business affairs, which will be proved before the court as well. When asked about the fee being paid to the party lawyers, he said that it is not being paid from the public exchequer but "it's between the lawyers and the applicants."
Responding to the Imran Khan's criticism on Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said that ECP was reconstituted in consultations with all political parties including the PTI and it was deplorable to criticise the institution even though the party spokesman Naeem-ul-Haq had reposed complete confidence in the ECP.
About the change in legal team of the Prime Minister's family, he said it is nothing extraordinary but an expansion in the team to further strengthen the team. He also claimed that the e-mails shared by Imran Khan with the media were not authentic, saying the PTI chief should present these before the court if these are authentic. Dubbing Imran Khan as the "master of U-turns," Daniyal Aziz claimed that allegations levelled by the PTI chief against the PM and his family are "utter pack of lies." He claimed that Imran Khan and Jehangir Tareen themselves have offshore companies and now they are hurling baseless allegations at the Prime Minister and his children. "The allegations are nothing but the mantra of '35 punctures' and they would meet the same fate, as in the past Imran Khan himself admitted before the court that he had no concrete evidence of '35 punctures' as well as the allegations of rigging in 2013 general election," he further claimed. Responding to a question regarding Imran Khan's claim about the Qatari prince's letter presented before Supreme Court as being "forged," Daniyal said that the lawyer of the Prime Minister's children had on record told the apex court that Qatari prince was ready to record his statement in the court whenever he will be asked to do so.