Claim of corruption by PMLN, PPP: Marriyum Aurangzeb dares Imran to name agencies

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb Friday said PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan wanted the head of every institution to act like the former NAB chairman Javed Iqbal.

Addressing a news conference here, Marriyum dared Imran to name the “agencies and their officials” who were involved in politics and gave him the guarantee that the incumbent chief election commissioner would toe his line.

“Either point out the persons and agencies who have given you (Imran) a briefing about the corruption of PML-N and PPP or stop this drama once and for all if you lack the courage,” Marriyum said.

The minister said Imran Khan, while addressing a seminar the other day, had claimed that he was briefed about the opposition leaders’ corruption by the “agencies” and the incumbent chief election commissioner (CEC) was appointed by him on their guarantee.

“Which guarantee was given to him (Imran) for the CEC? Which agency had given him the guarantee? And why he needed the guarantee at all?” she questioned.

The minister asked whether he wanted the assurance that the PTI would not be declared a foreign-aided party and he himself as a “foreign agent” under that guarantee. She said Imran Khan had claimed to have received reports from the “agencies” about the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Whether he himself had sought the reports from the agencies, she wondered, advising the PTI chairman to better stop churning out lies. Marriyum alleged that Imran Khan was a “fascist who wants to impose fascism on the entire country”.

Marriyum said Imran desired that persons like Javed Iqbal should head all the state institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan, Federal Investigation Agency, National Accountability Bureau and others.

She said, Imran Khan was a conspirator and had the only expertise as to how to hatch a conspiracy against Pakistan. He was the root-cause of all the problems being faced by the country, she added. The minister said during his so-called 22-year political struggle, Imran Khan had always tried to pose himself as an “angel” and the others as “thieves” while giving an “Islamic touch”.

“Lies, drama and hypocrisy” are the hallmarks of his politics,” she added. Marriyum regretted that Imran Khan had refused to appear before the FIA in connection with the prohibited funding.

“He said he would not give any answer to the FIA about the prohibited funding. Whether it is the court, the opposition or the media, he has refused to answer to anybody about his wrongdoings.” She said Imran Khan was not a “sacred cow” and would have to face the law.

“If three times prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had presented themselves for accountability, then Imran Khan could not escape from the long arm of law?” She said though false cases were lodged against Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, and the fact was later admitted by Judge Arshad Malik, they appeared before the courts.

Nawaz Sharif, she added, presented himself for accountability by writing a letter to the top court (for formation of a commission to investigate the Panama Papers issue), as he knew that he had not committed corruption of even a single dime.

Marriyum said Imran Khan used all state institutions to victimize Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif. “He submitted a false evidence against the PML-N leadership to the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom and also provided the same material to foreign journalist David Rose, but could not succeed in his designs,” she added.

Marriyum said NAB failed to produce even a single evidence in courts to prove corruption of the PML-N leadership.

She said Imran Khan set up an asset recovery unit in the Prime Minister’s Office with his “tout” Shahzad Akbar as its head for victimizing the political opponents.

He (Imran) should be ashamed of himself as he had made a mockery of the accountability process. The minister said Imran Khan had wrongly assumed that he would get off scot free for his “sins”, by saying that the “agencies” had briefed him about the alleged corruption of then opposition leaders. “He should be ready to face action in the foreign funding case,” she remarked.

Marriyum said there was no comparison of Imran Khan with Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted from power with the support of “black law dictionary”, as there was no law to remove the latter from the public office for not withdrawing salary from his son.

“Nawaz Sharif never talked about the country’s disintegration or set it on fire. He never launched a malicious campaign against the military’s martyrs. Instead he had always stressed that all the state institutions should work within constitutional domain,” she added.

On the contrary, she said, it was Imran Khan who talked about the disintegration of Pakistan in three parts and even maligned the state institutions when ousted from the power. She said Imran Khan himself admitted that he had called upon the state institutions to intervene when the no-trust motion against him was going to succeed in the National Assembly. Now, he has again asked these state institutions to help him regain power, she added.