Toshakhana reference: NA Speaker to give decision within 30 days, says Ayaz

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said on Sunday that the Toshakhana Reference had been submitted to the National Assembly Speaker, who will announce a decision within 30 days. He said that following the NA speaker’s decision, the reference will be forwarded to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He was addressing a press conference along with Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said when Imran Khan was in power, he “sat down with former US president Donald Trump and signed a deal on Kashmir.” He further said that the previous government had inflicted “considerable damage to the country’s economy by not signing agreements to purchase oil at cheaper rates.”

“We will block the way of those who want to spread chaos in the country,” he said, adding that during Khan’s tenure, the country’s foreign relations were damaged because “all the countries had reservations about the-then government.”

The minister further said that since Khan had “uttered words against the country,” the coalition government would approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

On the occasion, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique criticised PTI Chairman Imran Khan and said while he was “apparently” a democratic leader, he has said that the previous government, led by the PTI, had “destroyed” the railways system of the country. “The Imran mafia and his political clowns have damaged the country,” he maintained, adding that while PTI leaders accuse members of other political parties of being thieves, they “themselves are the biggest thieves” the country had ever witnessed.

“They live in 300-kanal houses but pay negligible income taxes,” Rafique said. He further berated Khan and said while he criticises the children of other politicians for living abroad, his own sons are living in London. “Do your own sons live in Kala Shah Kaku?” he asked, adding that PTI leaders are “worse than dictators” because they “hurl abuses at anyone who disagrees with them.”

He further said that the incumbent government is compelled to go to other countries to ask for monetary help because of Khan’s incompetence. “In turn, those who have to fix Khan’s mess have been labelled as traitors,” Rafique said.

The railways minister added while Khan kept crying foul about a “foreign conspiracy” that led to his ouster, everything to remove his government was carried out in a constitutional way. “It was, indeed, our demand to hold elections in the country,” he said, adding that it was the PMLN government that had introduced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), but when the PTI came into power, it “froze all the projects.”

“Khan has pushed the country into a whirlpool, yet he acts like a saviour,” Rafique alleged. He then criticised Khan for demanding state institutions intervene in political matters. “You openly say that institutions should bring a change in the country,” he said. “Whose agenda are you working on?”

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central leader and former federal minister Farrukh Habib said the PTI opponents have nothing against Imran Khan except Toshakhana. In a statement, the PTI leader further said that the opponents should know that Imran Khan’s signed bat sells for crores of rupees. He said that Imran Khan has given an account of his 40 years of earnings in the Supreme Court. Farrukh Habib said that the present rulers should expose our corruption, but they only hold press conferences.