Friday, 22 april, 2022 I 20 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII no 294 I 12 Pages I Islamabad edition
Nawaz Sharif accuSeS imraN KhaN for PaKiStaN’S ecoNomic meSS
LONDON
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Staff RepoRt
ML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif berated ex-prime minister Imran Khan for backtracking on every promise and said the PTI chairman broke the back of Pakistan’s economy, so there was no reason for a foreign conspiracy against him. “Were you involved in holding an atomic blast? Why will there be a foreign conspiracy against you?” Nawaz asked ousted premier Khan as he addressed a press conference alongside PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in London. Nawaz — who was removed by the Supreme Court from the prime minister’s office in 2017 — said during the PML-N’s government, the country’s economy was moving in the right direction. “But now we will have to repair the damage done to the economy,” Nawaz said as he stressed that ousting Khan from power was crucial for the country’s development.
He also claimed that there has never been such a hostile political environment in Pakistan as there was during PTI’s tenure. “Khan promoted the culture of hooliganism and immorality.” Noting that there was an enormous challenge facing the new government, he called for joint efforts from all the parties to resolve Pakistan’s issues. “We need to work together as Pakistan saw the worst of times during the four years that Imran Khan was in power […] he took U-turns on everything and always did the opposite of what he vowed to,” Nawaz said. Taking a jibe at the PTI chairman, Nawaz said that Khan had claimed that he would take his own life before approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support. “But we did not see him take his own life till now,” he said. Concluding his bit, Nawaz thanked Bilawal for visiting him at the office and also informed journalists that they would hold another meeting tomorrow — but provided no de-
tails about it. ‘ConSPIRaCy HatCHeD at tHe BIlawal HoUSe’: Speaking to journalists in London, Bilawal said the coalition government would try to once again work towards the restoration of democracy in the country. “There was no foreign conspiracy against Imran Khan, it was a democratic conspiracy […] It was not White House, but a conspiracy hatched at the Bilawal House,” he said. He claimed that Nawaz’s sacrifices for democracy were evident before everyone and noted that he came to meet the PML-N supremo today as once everyone is on the same page, only then can they resolve Pakistan’s issues. “PML-N and PPP will solve Pakistan’s issues once they are on the same page,” he said, asking all the institutions to remain within their constitutional parameters. Bilawal called the removal of Imran Khan as the prime minister a “historical” incident, adding that his party and PML-N have made history together in the past. Talking about the efforts of both the parties in overthrowing the former prime minister’s government, Bilawal said that it took three to four years for the joint Opposition to end the rule of the erstwhile “selected government” in a constitutional way through a no-confidence motion. “We did not involve judiciary or any other institution to remove Imran Khan from power,” said the PPP chairman. “We took a democratic step against the PM who was sitting in the prime minister’s chair undemocratically.” He went on to say that the PPP and PML-N’s support is as important as it was during the time of the Charter of Democracy (COD).
Rectify your mistake by holding immediate elections: Imran Khan LAHORE Mian abRaR
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Thursday called for immediate fresh elections, failing which he would lead a march on Islamabad against ‘imported government’. “Whosoever has made a mistake must now correct it with forcing early elections,” said Khan Addressing a charged mammoth public gatehring at Minar-e-Pakistan ground. Khan announced to launch a movement for true freedom of Pakistan. He called upon all the people of Pakistan including the workers of the opposition parties to mobilise people to launch a march on Islamabad. “I don’t want any confrontation with anyone. Unlike others, I live and die in my country. Pakistan army and police are our own institutions. Pakistan is strong and intact due to our armed forces who have sacrificed and foiled all conspiracies of the enemy. We don’t want confrontation with anyone but we would not accept this imported government,” warned Imran Khan. Khan blamed a foreign conspiracy to oust him from power was due to his warming up with China and Russia which he pursued
Govt alleges Imran Khan spent Rs980m on air travel from PM House to Bani Gala ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed on Thursday that former prime minister Imran Khan incurred expenses of Rs980 million by travelling back and forth from the Prime Minister House to his private residence in Bani Gala via helicopter. The newly appointed minister made the claim while addressing a press conference in Islamabad where she lambasted the PTI chairman for paying a fraction of the actual price to retain gifts from the Toshakhana. Shortly after the presser, the minister released an official breakdown of the helicopter expenses allegedly incurred by Imran. According to the detailed breakdown of expenses, the total expenditure from June 2018 to March 2022 was Rs984m — Rs512m for maintenance and Rs472m for “expenditure during flight”. The helicopter was used for a total of 2,723 flying hours from August 2018 to March 2022 with an average cost of Rs275,000 per hour. During her press conference, the information minister called on Khan to provide the money trail for the gifts retained from the Toshakhana and accused him of retaining a watch, a pair of cufflinks and a ring at an even lower price than what was being
claimed. “Where is the money trail for the gifts you (Imran) retained? Give the money trail for the Rs30 million you paid in one installment to retain these three things,” she said. Aurangzeb said Imran’s income records with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) did not reflect that he was in possession of the money he paid to retain the gifts. Reiterating her demand for a money trail, she said that it was no longer a matter of Imran’s “personal choice”. “For 40 years, you asked for others to provide records and receipts
of dead parents and deceased [relatives]. Now, Imran Khan sahab you will have to give receipts.” Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states and foreign dignitaries as a goodwill gesture. It has valuables ranging from bulletproof cars, gold-plated souvenirs, expensive paintings to watches, ornaments, rugs and swords. Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had [accused][1] Imran of sell-
ing expensive gifts received from foreign states, including a wristwatch by Saudi Arabia, in Dubai. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had downplayed the matter, saying that “selling one’s own assets (after purchasing them from Toshakhana) is not a crime”. Imran had also addressed the topic in an [interaction with journalists][2] on Monday, saying that he had bought a gift from a foreign president at 50 per cent of its price. The information minister pushed back against the claim in her press conference today, saying that a watch, a pair of cufflinks and a ring were retained at 20pc of their original price instead of 50pc. “What Imran Khan is saying at this time is again a lie. Tell the people that you retained [the watch] at 20pc [of its value] and sold it for Rs180m.” The information minister said that while the Toshakhana items were gifts given to the prime minister and could be retained, they could not have been sold at “four times their price”. Aurangzeb alleged that Imran had made the prime minister’s seat “a seat for business.” She said Khan’s total income and assets were Rs141m while the income from retaining Toshakhana gifts during his stint as prime minister was Rs142m.
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in the interest of the people of Pakistan. Imran Khan said that he went to Russia just to watch the interest of people of Pakistan because Russia offered Pakistan petroleum products and wheat on 30 percent discounted prices. Khan also said that while India despite being a strategic ally of the US had refused to US diktat and was getting oil from Russia on cheaper rates, Pakistan would also not remain subservient to the western pressure. Not only the Minar-e-Pakistan was pack to capacity, drone footage showed people had packed roads and nearby overhead bridge. Traffic had chocked major roads leading to the Minar-e-Pakistan while PTI also leveled allegations that roads had been blocked on purpose leading to the Minar-e-Pakistan. He said that the country’s GDP was growing at 5.6 percent while the revenue and exports had also hit record highs. He said the country’s foreign remittances also were unprecedented high and the country was progressing despite Covid-19 Pandemic. He said that his government had taken drastic steps to help the farming community which resulted into bumper crops of wheat, rice, cotton, potatoes and maize.
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