Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Imran Khan alleges that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered him Rs.10 billion in exchange for his silence regarding the Panama case. Speaking at a party conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while highlighting the importance of keeping the government under pressure, Imran Khan claimed that a close friend of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had approached him with the offer. This middleman also claimed that he had been promised to be “entertained” if he convinced the PTI leader. Imran Khan expressed his appreciation of the judges who gave the decision against the PM and went on to state that this was the modus operandi employed by Nawaz Sharif whenever he wanted to protect his interests. “This Rs10 billion was just a starting point; if I had shown some flexibility, they could have offered me more than that,” he concluded.
Mr. Nawaz Sharif received funds from the ISI to defeat Benazir Bhutto in the 1990 elections.
This is not the first time Nawaz Sharif has been accused of using illicit means to further his party’s political agenda. In the Asghar Khan case, it was alleged that Mr. Nawaz Sharif received funds from the ISI to defeat Benazir Bhutto in the 1990 elections. Benazir, who had been previously dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan under the eighth amendment after the failure of the ISI operation, Midnight Jackal, was projected to win the elections but ISI, under the direction of President Khan, gave funds to rival politicians, which included Nawaz Sharif, and successfully thwarted Bhutto in the elections.
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Sharif family got loans worth Rs.6.24 billion from various banks for their 37 industrial units using the political office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Seventeen inquiries into corruption cases against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have also been pending with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the last two decades. They involve allegations that, using the political office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Sharif family got loans worth Rs.6.24 billion from various banks for their 37 industrial units.
In his book, late journalist Azhar Sohail wrote that Mr. Sharif had once offered Gen Asif Nawaz “a BMW car and a diamond key-ring that cost more than the car.”
Just yesterday President Mamnoon Hussain gave a cheque of Rs.25 million to the Karachi Press Club. It is unclear why Punjab Government is investing in media organizations in Karachi.
In an effort to refute Imran Khan’s allegations, State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb held a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID) on Wednesday where she characterized the PTI chief as “naïve about politics”
“He is a juggler; he started with the slogan of election rigging, moved on to the phrase that an umpire is set to raise his finger, and has now resorted to criticizing all state institutions, including the Election Commission and judges of the apex court,” she said.
She went on to brand Mr. Khan as “a liar” for making the Rs10 billion claim, she claimed that the government was not interested in getting him to quiet down.
“Whatever he says is indirectly beneficial for us; whenever he criticizes us, he makes a mockery of himself,” the minister said, adding: “This lends credence to the more mature, sober and responsible PM Nawaz Sharif, who also heads the largest political party in the country.”
“Imran Khan if you are a man, disclose the name [of the middleman]. We will prove that you are a liar!”
Her angle on the Panama Verdict was the same as the current narrative being propagated by the PML-N: The Prime Minister has been cleared by the Supreme Court and the allegations of Imran Khan, Sheikh Rasheed, and Senator Sirajul Haq have been dismissed. However, all evidence points to the contrary to the line taken by the PML-N on this issue.
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Today, while addressing media in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan, PML-N politician Danyal Aziz said “Imran Khan if you are a man, disclose the name [of the middleman]. We will prove that you are a liar!”
PPP, in reaction to Imran Khan’s claim, have demanded the name of the middleman be disclosed. PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira stated that it was the legal and moral responsibility of the PTI chief to disclose the name of the person offering the bribe to which a spokesperson said that “We will disclose the name of the person at an appropriate time.”