Prime minister Imran Khan Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government is not under any pressure from the armed forces, saying that the PTI is in charge of the country’s foreign policy.
“The army hasn’t [asked] me to do one thing which I did not want to do,” he said. “I would have resisted the army if they exerted pressure on me. The entire foreign policy [being implemented today] is mine, you can check the PTI’s manifesto,” he said in a TV programme. “Pakistan’s foreign policy today is centred around the PTI’s manifesto… the world is praising Pakistan for advocating non-military solutions to conflicts,” he said.
Imran Khan said his government wants accountability of all those who have embezzled public money and, therefore, has ensured functioning of National Accountability Bureau and other investigation agencies independently and free of any political interference.
In a private TV programme, the prime minister said that National Accountability Bureau was functioning independently and the government has no control over it. The NAB cases which the both leaders of Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N are facing now, had been instituted by them against each other during their tenures in government, he maintained. “The prime minister said the PTI’s government has nothing to do with these cases. The government wants accountability of all those who had embezzled public money. The investigation and accountability institutions in the country were now functioning independently,” he stressed.
The prime minister further said when the PTI government came into being, sons of Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Salman Shahbaz etc, had already left the country. He said BBC’s two documentaries are based upon the corruption of leadership from both these parties. “They wanted to get another NRO as they tried to blackmail the government on Financial Action Task Force (FATAF) legislation,” he added.
The prime minister in response to a question regarding investigation into sugar inquiry report, maintained that for the first time in the country’s history, legal proceedings have been initiated against sugar cartel. He said further process is underway as two FIRs were also registered in the case. Now, certain cases were pending before the Competition Commission. Expressing his resolve, the prime minister said all those involved would have to face the law of the land. “I will not interfere in this process,” he said, adding that the institutions and departments investigating the issue have been given full independence.
About Jahangir Tareen, the prime minister said that he had worked for the party for long time and that they remained very close. Tareen had been passing through difficult time and according to Tareen’s claims, the cases against him were wrongly framed; the prime minister replied in response to a query.
To another question, he said there were no corruption cases against Firdous Ashiq Awan which had made basis for her removal from the information ministry. About appointment of Naeem Bukhari in the board of directors of PTV, the prime minister said that being familiar and well-known personality who had been regularly appearing on PTV since 1970 with immense experience, so he had requested Bukhari to accept the post.
The prime minister agreed that opposition should also get coverage on PTV like the BBC, TRT and Al Jazeera which also reflected governments’ points of view.
About performance of chief minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, he said after completion of his five years’ term, he would be the only most successful chief minister of the province due to his performance including his development initiatives like healthcare insurance to all residents of the province.
The prime minister was asked about former Punjab government spokesperson Fayyaz Chohan who was shown the door a couple of weeks ago and Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was appointed special assistant to the chief minister of Punjab.
“We need both Fayyaz Chohan and Firdous Ashiq Awan,” he said. “In order to win the match, you need to change the team sometimes,” added PM Imran Khan.
When asked to respond to allegations of being a “selected” prime minister, PM Imran Khan said that he couldn’t understand their criticism at him. He said that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was the leader of his party because “he had shown a piece of paper” (in reference to Benazir Bhutto’s will) and Maryam Nawaz was leading the PML-N because she was Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. “And they make these allegations against a man who has struggled in politics for the past 22 years,” said the prime minister, referring to himself.
