- Says PM should be disqualified for hiding assets
- PTI files reference case in the ECP seeking disqualification of PM Nawaz
ISLAMABAD, June 24: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that prime minister should be disqualified for hiding the assets. He said if the panama paper leaks issue was not settled then PTI will come on roads after Eid. He said PTI has filed petition in Election Commission of Pakistan against prime minister and if ECP will not hear the petition then PTI will approach Supreme Court of Pakistan. He said PTI will go at any extent to save the democracy in county. He said that the process of accountability should begin from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and should then be carried out against other leaders.
Talking to media at his residence in Bani Gala, Imran Khan said the petition filed against the prime minister by his party was “a legal position that democracies follow”.
He said that they will not stop here and will approach the Supreme Court if the ECP does not reach a decision. He dismissed the apprehension that this is a threat to democracy, but rather will strengthen democracy in the country. He said that the government will not accept the ToRs as it wants to bring those clauses which will safeguard Nawaz Sharif rather than initiate proceedings against him. He said accountability should be held without any discrimination.
He said that British Prime Minister David Cameron had resigned just because he was on the other side of referendum. He was not constitutionally obliged to do it but resigned due to a moral responsibility.
Imran questioned under which law Maryam Nawaz would get responsibility as there was no such provision in a democratic society. He said that she had no constitutional status which was stated by the courts when she was appointed in charge of a 100 billion rupees loan fun.
He stressed on ‘madrassah’ reforms and stated that funds for seminaries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will help bring them into mainstream society and reduce the parallel education system in the country. He rejected criticism and said that it would help the children from underprivileged backgrounds who study in the seminaries.
He said that actions of a few cannot be blamed on the institution and the 2.8 million children studying in madrassahs cannot be labeled as terrorists.
He stressed on police reforms and said that the war against terrorism cannot be won without depoliticising the police as they had done in Khyber Pakhtunkwa. He said that a wave of terrorism had started in several parts of the country such as Karachi.
Despite filing the reference for PM’s disqualification in the ECP, the PTI chief cast doubts about the credibility of the electoral body, saying “This election commission is N-league’s election commission”. “Judicial commission has given 40 findings regarding rigging in 2013 general elections but no action has been taken so far [by the ECP],” he said while addressing media men. Imran rejected the government’s claim his party was trying to destabilise democracy. “We are rather strengthening it,” he said.
“Democracy began with magna carta in the UK when industrialists demanded to bring the king under the rule of law. And in Pakistan we are also trying to bring King Nawaz Sharif under the law.”
The PTI chairman, however, denied any possibility of an electoral alliance with any party. “It is a one-point agenda and we are all united on anti-corruption agenda, accountability should begin from Nawaz Sharif.”
Khan said that the government seemed unwilling to agree upon the Terms of References (TORs) catering the investigation of the Panama Leaks issue proposed by the Opposition.
During his conversation with the media, Khan also said that he was deeply saddened over the murder of qawwali singer Amjad Sabri.–SABAH
