Nawaz has to be searched on Panama issue: Imran

KARACHI: Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan said Wednesday Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may cut as many ribbons as he wanted, he has to be searched on the Panama Papers issue.

He said the Panama Leaks issue will decide the future of Pakistan as the country can't progress when a corrupt premier and ministers are at the helm adding that after the Panama Leaks case, every chief executive will fear indulging in corruption. 

Addressing a press conference here at the residence of Dr Arif Alvi and later talking to the media at a luncheon hosted by Haleem Adil Sheikh, he said Panama was the evidence and not the allegation as flight of capital took place, which was money laundering. Following the Panamagate, he said neither the prime minister was clearing his position nor tendering his resignation.

Contrary to the popular opinion that the Qatari prince's letter had changed the outlook of the case, Khan expressed the optimism about the Supreme Court's awaited judgement. The PTI chief criticised Sindh Governor Muhammed Zubair, claiming that Nawaz Sharif had appointed him to the post for defending his corruption, which had been exposed in the Panama case controversy.

He was highly disappointed by the Sindh governor who knew of Nawaz Sharif's corruption but preferred to defend the premier, he said. The PTI chairman said the public was well aware that the letter presented by the prime minister from the Qatari prince was fake as the premier had never mentioned it in his speeches.

"Never in the world an incomplete project has been launched," said Khan about the PM's inauguration of the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway. "It is strange that the premier is busy cutting strings which proves his confusion."

Imran said corruption was weakening the institutions and strong state organs would make the nation stronger. He vowed not to rest until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is held accountable for his corruption.

He criticised the Sharif-led government for spending excessively on advertisements instead of building schools, hospitals and universities.

The government, he accused, had spent Rs20 billion on advertisements. They could have built hospitals and schools instead. The most expensive cancer hospital costs Rs40 billion, he added. Khan said that Panama Leaks case had nothing to do with the PML-N and the government; the PML-N had stated that the whole Panama Papers affairs was a private matter of the Sharif family.

If it is a private matter of the state, then what federal ministers are doing at the Supreme Court in every hearing, he asked. He accused the Sharif brothers of spending 60pc of the Punjab budget on Lahore alone and that they present it as a showcase for development work being carried out in the whole of Punjab. He also criticised Altaf and Zardari and the corruption in Sindh. 

Admitting that he neglected Karachi after the election of 2013, Imran said that he would now focus his attention on the city as soon as he was done with the Panama Leaks case. Imran said that Altaf Hussain acted like a don from London and Asif Ali Zardari seldom visited Pakistan. He claimed that both leaders had no stakes in Pakistan since their properties, family and wealth were abroad.

"I admit, I ignored Karachi in part since 2013," he said. "I fell and got injured in 2013 due to which I was admitted in a hospital for four months. Then in 2014, I went on a protest movement against the government in Islamabad. In 2016 again, I was occupied in the Panama Leaks case," he added. "I promise to focus my attention towards Karachi as soon as I am done with the Panama Leaks case."

He also spoke on the dismal situation of Sindh and the poor state that Larkana was in. He also stated that people in Karachi were drinking sewerage water, Karachi was not in such a bad condition before, it used to be the city of lights, he said.

Khan said this time around, the party would also focus on mobilising and organising workers in Sindh and Balochistan. He said his party had done what it could do and had gone to the SC because the state institutions were not serving the state sincerely.