Daily Times

PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan Monday admitted that the PTI government’s decision to file a reference against the Supreme Court senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa was a mistake, saying they should not have unnecessarily confronted the judiciary. He made these remarks while talking to journalists at his Bani Gala residence. Imran talked about a number of topics in the 1.5-hour-long conversation, including allegations of selling Toshakhana gifts, appointment of chief election commissioner and his trip to Russia. The reference against Justice Isa was sent by the law ministry, according to Khan, who said he did not have “personal enmity” with anyone in the judiciary. Khan said the record of whatever gifts he had bought from Toshakhana was available and if anyone had evidence that he had committed corruption, they should bring it forward. He shared that a foreign president had sent a gift to his Bani Gala residence that he had then deposited in Toshakhana – a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division that stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states and foreign dignitaries as a goodwill gesture.

He had bought back the gift at 50 percent of its price, he added. “My gift, my choice. If I wanted to make money, I would have made millions by declaring my house as a camp office but I did not do that,” Khan said.

“I thank God, that in three years (of rule), all they have got against me is this Toshakhana gift scandal, which is already on record,” he said.

Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed that his predecessor sold expensive gifts received from foreign states, including a wristwatch by Saudi Arabia, in Dubai. The prime minister’s claim was endorsed by former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who said in a statement that “selling one’s own assets (after purchasing them from Toshakhana) is not a crime.” The former prime minister shared that the establishment had given him three options, of which he had chosen early elections. Earlier this month, he had identified resignation and facing the no-confidence motion as the other two options. Khan denied having requested anyone to end the political deadlock, as the no-confidence vote loomed against him.

“Establishment talked about three options after meeting our senior leadership,” he was quoted as saying.

Khan’s assertion that the options were given by the establishment came days after the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar claimed that it was Khan who had approached the military leadership and that “no option from the establishment was given.”

Imran said he was staying quiet “because Pakistan needs a strong and united army”, adding that a strong army was the guarantor of Pakistan’s security. The former prime minister also said that he would not say anything that could hurt the country.

Khan also shared that he had called Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa prior to his two-day trip to Russia in February during which the army chief said he should go ahead with the visit, according to the Samaa TV report.

The former prime minister also reportedly clarified that he had not met anyone besides anchorpersons and party members on his last night in office, thus, putting to rest reports of a meeting with the army leadership the night he was ousted from the top office.

His comments come days after the BBC published a story supposedly recounting the events leading up to the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister.

The story alleged that “two uninvited guests” reached PM House, with an extraordinary security detail, via helicopter and held a 45-minute private meeting with Khan.

The biggest claim in the story – made by quoting government sources – said that the meeting was less than pleasant. “Just an hour ago, former prime minister Imran Khan had given orders to remove one of the senior officials present for the meeting,” the story alleged, without taking any names. The story was later rejected by the military’s media affairs wing which termed it to be “totally baseless and a pack of lies”.

Khan revealed that the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja’s name was “proposed by the establishment” after a deadlock between the then government and the opposition.

In a separate tweet, the journalist said Khan shared that the PTI would file a reference against the CEC, adding that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had shown “incompetency” by not completing delimitation of constituencies in time because of which early elections were delayed.

About the party’s public rallies in Peshawar and Karachi after his ouster from the government, Imran Khan said: “I have never seen such a large number of people coming out in Pakistan.”

He appealed to the nation to not accept the new rulers and suggested formation of an independent body for the selection of a chief election commissioner.

Referring to a joint statement from US and India, he said no one spoke when they asked Pakistan to “do more”.

“We held discussions with Russia on arms, oil, wheat and gas,” he said, adding Moscow was ready to give wheat and oil 30% cheaper.

“When the country started to prosper economically, this conspiracy was hatched. An independent foreign policy is in the interest of the people,” he said.

Talking about the Farah Khan controversy, who has been blamed for hoarding and is a close friend of Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, he said Farah was not an officeholder nor was she a minister.

“How could she have taken money for appointments?” He said no future prime minister in Pakistan would be able to withstand US threats if the “foreign conspiracy” to keep him out of power succeeds.

“It will be bad for the country if the nation accepts the conspiracy… India and the US have once again demanded Pakistan to ‘do more’ and no one is saying anything now,” he said.

He said the ‘conspiracy’ was hatched in November and the no-confidence motion was tabled in January.

“Our MNAs were called to the US Embassy and soon after the US threat our allies also joined the opposition,” he added. Imran said he would personally distribute party tickets in the next elections and no “electable” would be approached this time around. “Giving tickets to allies taught me a lesson that you should not have allies [while forming a government],” he added.

Imran Khan said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was appointing his own people to key positions so that he could “fix the match”. “When they play the match they play it by siding with the umpire… I request the nation not to accept them.”