Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday admitted that allowing the PML-N Quaid and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment was a big mistake committed by the PTI government.

He said this while addressing a mammoth public meeting of the party supporters in Mandi Bahauddin. Lambasting the opposition leaders, Imran pledged that he will not let them get them off the hook until they coughed up the looted money parked in the offshore accounts and returned it to the country. “First, it was one disease, then another, then platelets,” he said, adding that the government was under the impression that he [Nawaz] would not survive for long.

“I accept we made a big mistake by allowing him to travel abroad.”

“I have a message for the Sharif family: The captain is ready for all your plans. You will not only face defeat, but all of you will go to jail,” the prime minister vowed.

He noted that Nawaz used to visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past and ask the PTI where the ‘Naya KP’ was, says a media report. “In the 2018 election, the province, which never gives anyone a second chance, elected PTI by a two-third majority,” he said. Referring to the opposition as a gang of thieves, Imran also lashed out at Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman. He said Fazl was gathering the opposition and after every three months called for toppling the PTI government.

“The biggest reason for this is that after 30 years the country’s assembly is functioning without diesel. It is now running on solar [power],” he said. He claimed that the opposition was afraid, adding that the JUI-F chief was urging the opposition to oust the PTI government as he sensed that it would come into power once again in 2023.

He also accused the opposition of scrambling to move a no-confidence motion against the government in an effort to save its looted wealth.

“Why is there haste in moving a no-trust move?” he asked, noting that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was currently facing a money laundering reference. “Shehbaz, if you are innocent, then why do you ask the courts for more time? Ask them to conduct day-to-day hearings.”

Imran said when the opposition had filed a case against him with the Supreme Court, he stayed in the country and proved that he was honest and righteous. “I provided the documents the court asked for. I did not run away [or] ask for more dates. I told them to listen to the case [day-to-day]. So Shehbaz, why are you running?” he said, adding that the courts were free.

Turning his guns towards the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, the premier said she was also scared due to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and was trying to scare the judges. “They want a no-trust move so that the government can be ousted and they can get themselves off the hook like they did during Gen Musharraf’s tenure,” he said.

“I have a message for the Sharif family: we are prepared for whatever you decide to do. Whatever your plan is, kaptaan is prepared for that plan.”

He predicted that the opposition would once again not only fail, but also end up in jail this time around. Imran also categorically said the opposition would not receive a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) until it returned the stolen money. “They are scared because Imran Khan has no price, he will not give you an NRO like General Musharraf.”

He said the cases against the opposition were old and they were asking him for an NRO, the same way they had asked Gen Musharraf.

He said the courts were free, adding that the government respected the judiciary. Giving examples of the opposition’s alleged interference in the judiciary, he said retired justice Sajjad Ali was pressured and chased away from the courts as he was hearing a corruption case against them, claiming that the SC’s Quetta bench was “bought”. “Now Maryam sahiba says she has tapes. Have you ever heard of politicians keeping tapes and blackmailing judges?”

He said there was first a tape of former accountability judge Arshad Malik, who passed away in 2020. “Then a fake tape was made of a former chief justice to save themselves in a case,” he said, referring to the alleged audio clip of former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar. “This is not what politicians do, this is what the mafia does,” he declared, calling on supporters to help the government combat them. “I have vowed to fight them as long as I am alive.”