BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan reiterated on Sunday that the government must form a judicial commission headed by the Supreme Court chief justice to probe the Panama leaks.
Addressing party workers in Birmingham, Khan censured Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over Panama leaks. He said the government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was answerable to the nation with regard to the alleged foreign assets of prime minister’s family. He said the PTI would give the government a chance to form an independence juridical commission to investigate the Panama leaks. “If a judicial commission is established under the chief justice of Pakistan, it will uncover where the huge money has gone,” he said. He said the prime minister had lost the moral authority to rule the country.
In the wake of the Panama leaks, the PTI chairman said, this was the first time that a prime minister had been made to explain the allegations against him. He said that before the Panama leaks the rulers used to say that opposition was levelling baseless allegations against them. He said that Prime Minister Sharif was facing allegations of money laundering, tax evasion, corruption and concealing assets. He said that Sharif should have explained his position with regard to his family’s foreign assets in the parliament like British Prime Minister David Cameron did. “Instead of clarifying the issue of prime minister’s offshore holdings, the ministers are targeting Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre,” he said.
Khan said the PML-N was levelling baseless allegations against the hospital and added that prime minister’s sons and cabinet ministers were issuing contradictory statements about the health facility.
The PTI chairman said that now the prime minister had no moral authority to advise people against tax evasion, money laundering and corruption. “It is a defining moment for Pakistan. We should take advantage of the situation and start accountability of the leadership,” he said.
Commenting on the upcoming general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khan pledged to bring about a change in the state after coming into power. “We can strengthen institutions in Kashmir. I ask you to go and meet people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and see how we are improving the system there,” he said.
The PTI chairman vowed to bring a strong local government system in Kashmir where districts and villages would make decisions. He said that he strongly supported the demand for an airport in Mirpur.
In response to a question, Khan said that as a cricketer he earned money from many countries and brought it to Pakistan. He said that he did not have any foreign bank account. He said that corruption was killing more people than terrorism. He stated that more than 35 percent of the children lose their lives each year due to unavailability of food.
Referring to the election for London mayor’s office, Khan said that he encouraged Zac Goldsmith to step into politics. He said that Goldsmith would prove to be a good mayor.
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