Asad sees nothing wrong in Tarin ‘advice’ to finance ministers

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Asad Umar Monday attempted to defend the leaked audios, saying there was nothing wrong in Shaukat Tarin contacting provincial finance ministers by phone and giving them any advice.

Addressing a news conference along with Taimur Jhagra, he claimed that when the incumbent rulers were in the opposition, they had opposed the passage of FATF [Financial Action Task Force] laws. “When we prepared the laws to save Pakistan from falling into the FATF blacklist, these parties said they would not allow those bills to be passed until their NAB cases were dropped,” he said.

He noted that the State Bank of Pakistan Act was the mandatory condition for revival of the IMF programme, which the rulers opposed, as they had said that the law was akin to mortgaging the SBP to the IMF and they voted against the Act. However, today, when more than four months have passed, they have not uttered a word against that act, which proved that at that time they were just doing politics.

Asad Umar said a phone call of Tarin had surfaced; at present there is no law in the country, phone tapping is taking place openly, and the law is being violated.

Asad Umar asked what was controversial and objectionable in a letter written by Jhagra. “The real thing is the letter, the reality is only the letter, everything else is crying; was it written in this letter that we are withdrawing from the deal.

“Firstly, a tweet came in which it was said that we wrote a letter to the IMF; it was proved to be a lie, it was said that it was written in the letter that we will leave the deal and that too proved untrue,” he added.

Separately, in his reaction over the IMF approval of funds release for Pakistan, Asad Umar said shameless people were greeting the nation on the agreement with the IMF. In a tweet, he said, “shameless people are congratulating the nation that agreement with the IMF has been done”.

Speaking at the news conference, KP Finance Minister Taimur Jhagra said he had written a letter to Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on August 26, in the wake of the unfulfilled promises made for welfare of the people of FATA after its merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He said it was promised that 3 per cent of the NFC award would be given for development of the erstwhile FATA, but the promise was never fulfilled.

He said when the time came for the IMF agreement, “we said if you want surplus, sit with us, on July 5; time was given for a meeting. However, 50 days have already passed, but no time was given by the federal finance minister for a meeting.

“For raising voice for the rights of the people of Pakistan and erstwhile FATA, questions are being raised on our patriotism,” he regretted. Separately, PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry defended the leaked phone call of Shaukat Tarin with provincial finance ministers of KP and Punjab. Talking to the media, he asked the government to first explain the phone-tapping by the intelligence bureau (IB), adding that breach of privacy had become a norm in Pakistan.

The former minister demanded Finance Minister Miftah Ismail disclose the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said they would not retract from their principled demand made in the letter – disclosure of terms and conditions reached with the IMF.

He said that Tarin did not say anything wrong in the phone call and if that was tantamount to ‘treason’, the PTI would keep doing it. Fawad said that Miftah Ismail should step down as even his own party members had spoken against his policies, adding that the middle-class has been thrashed due to the economic policies of the government.

“What we are asking for is a simple renegotiation with the IMF after the devastation by floods because the provinces would not be able to generate surplus,” he said.

He recalled how ex-PM Imran Khan renegotiated with the IMF during the Covid-19 pandemic and said that the PTI provincial governments were seeking the same from the Centre. “If you are [Miftah Ismail] going to go against the will of the people and will not address the reservations of the provinces, we will not be with you,” he categorically said.

Fawad said that the interest of 220 million should be the interest of the state rather than of a few people who take decisions in the drawing rooms. Meanwhile, senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari reacted to the audio leak and said now the audio call between Shaukat Tarin and the provincial finance minister had been leaked. In a tweet, she said that there was nothing illegal or wrong in the conversation. “We have openly opposed the conditions on which the imported government is taking loans from the IMF,” she said.

The PTI leader said that what is illegal in this matter is to secretly record the conversation without a court order, which is a grossly criminal act.