Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif Saturday said that his party has chosen him for the post of prime minister.

“If we won the upcoming elections, I will be the prime minister,” the former Punjab chief minister said in an interview to a private TV channel. He said he had friendly relations with disgruntled PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, however regretted that the two of them have dissociated with each other. He said that he had convinced Nawaz Sharif for awarding party ticket to Ch Nisar for the upcoming general elections, but it could not happen because of the statements issued by both the sides. “I have had an affiliation with Chaudhry Nisar and I won’t issue statement on that throughout my life,” he said.

Shehbaz denied allegations of lending any form of support to PTI chief’s former wife Reham Khan for her upcoming book which has stirred a controversy in the country. “I am neither behind Reham’s book nor gave her a single penny for it directly or indirectly,” he said. “Imran Khan has alleged that I am behind Reham’s book but I give no value to his allegation,” he said, adding that he only met Reham once in his whole life. “I only met her once when she interviewed me during the 2014 sit-in and never after that,” he said.

Speaking about the allegations levelled against him by the PTI chairman, Shehbaz said, “Khan Sb said I gave Rs 27 billion to Reham for the book through an alleged front man Javed Sadiq. The second allegation he has levelled against me is that I offered him Rs 10 billion to stay mum on the Panama Papers case. His third allegation against me is that I took Rs 1-2 billion in commission in Multan Metro Bus project through partnership with a Chinese company.”

Shehbaz upheld that he sent notices to Imran Khan following each of the allegations levelled against him. “However, he never replied to me after which I even went to court and neither he nor his counsel ever appeared for any of the cases,” he asserted.

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st 2018.