Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Following his address in the National Assembly on Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said the date and location of Raiwind sit-in could be changed if opposition parties wanted so. Reports say Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid have opposed PTI’s plan to stage a sit-in outside the prime minister’s Raiwind residence, whereas Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has yet to decide about participation in the protest march. Imran Khan, while addressing his party’s rally in Karachi on Sept. 6, had announced the plan to press the government for Panama Papers leaks investigation.

Imran Khan on Thursday lambasted National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for ‘victimising’ him and accused Sadiq of no longer an impartial speaker. He spoke passionately on the floor of the Parliament today and refused to accept Sadiq as Speaker NA for his “biased remarks”. The opposition parties staged a walkout against the ruling of the Speaker for rejecting the reference against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The lawmakers of Pakistan People’s Party, Tehreek-e-Insaf and Awami National Party staged a walkout from the NA following PTI Chief Imran Khan address in the lower house, where he strongly criticised Ayaz Sadiq’s ruling.

Before the walkout, the PTI chairman insisted that the Panama Papers inquiry must be held. “Let the inquiry begin, PM Sharif may turn out to be innocent,” he uttered. “We are asking for Panama Papers probe and PM is ‘cutting ribbons,” said Imran Khan while referring to PM inaugurating different uplift projects and overlooking opposition clamours for probe into the Panama Papers. He underlined that there would be no inquiry against him if he stopped speaking against government corruption.

“The Speaker accepted a reference against me and rejected the same against the PM. I have declared all my assets in 2013, therefore, I am not scared of ToRs,” Imran asserted. “Six years after I bought my flat in London I found the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital,” he maintained. Khan said, “I wished Ayaz Sadiq was there, I wanted to ask him some questions.”

The PTI chief lashed out at the PM’s family for allegedly concealing their assets, saying that Nawaz insisted on continuing his term “despite being caught red-handed”. He added that Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s behaviour not only dented the credibility of his position, but also the sanctity of the House. “A speaker is supposed to be impartial and loyal to democracy, not to the Prime Minister’s self interest,” Khan added. Ayaz Sadiq as a speaker should have accepted and forwarded both references but instead he had shown himself to be partisan. The PTI chief alleged that Ayaz Sadiq is sitting in the parliament and succumbing to Nawaz Sharif’s pressure.

“His (Nawaz Sharif’s) modus operandi is to buy people, or crush them with pressure,” Khan claimed. He said that it was job of democratic institutions to keep a check on corruption. When there was corruption by leaders in a country, funds meant for the public were diverted into their pockets. “The parliament too is an institution. The work of the parliament is governance and opposition. It is there for checks and balances,” he said.

Ministers belonging to the ruling party have harshly responded to address of Chairman of Imran Khan. Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique said that Khan did not talk about anything new in today’s address. He gave the people an old genie in a new bottle and resorted to levelling allegations against the PM as usual. He said that no evidence was presented along the references against the premier that were filed in the NA and rejected by Speaker. Khan owned an offshore company when people were not familiar with the word, he said. Talal Chaudhry said that Imran Khan needed to learn to accept decisions, if he wanted to become a leader of the nation.