PESHAWAR: PTI chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said a totally new bill was being drafted for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to constitute a more independent and powerful Ehtesab Commission.

During a news conference at the Chief Minister’s House, the PTI chief admitted that the existing accountability act had created complications and therefore, it was necessary to bring another bill.

He said legal experts were likely to finalise the draft soon and once it happened, it would be submitted to the provincial cabinet for consent before its tabling in the assembly.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members, Imran Khan said a committee headed by senior lawyer Hamid Khan was preparing the draft.

“We are preparing a completely new bill to set up an independent Ehtesab Commission,” he said.

The PTI chief, who frequently claims credit for the establishment of an ‘independent and powerful’ Ehtesab Commission in the province, said retired lieutenant general Hamid Khan had resigned from the office of the KPEC director general as he had differences with the members of the commission and not the chief minister.

“There was no clash between Mr. (Pervez) Khattak and Hamid Khan,” he said.

Imran Khan said the ruling PTI was committed to setting up an independent Ehtesab Commission.

When asked the reasons for the repeated amendments to the accountability law, he said the government was new and that was why, the law was being amended now and then due to lack of experience.

Imran Khan says panel drafting new accountability bill for KP

The provincial assembly had passed the Ehtesab Act in Jan 2014 leading to the formation of the Ehtesab Commission.

The party circles, coalition partners and bureaucracy have reservations about the functioning of the (Ehtesab) Commission compelling the government to make changes in the relevant law.

KPEC DG Hamid Khan resigned from his office when the government curtailed his powers through an ordinance.

Citing reasons for his resignation, the DG said the commission had become toothless after the promulgation of the ordinance.

During the news conference, Imran Khan came down heavily on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for ‘threatening’ the National Accountability Bureau and said gone were the days when the people were hoodwinked through publicity campaign in the media.

“In the past, Sharif brothers considered themselves to royals. However, now, the social media is very powerful and the people can’t be deceived through advertisement campaign,” he said.

The PTI chief said the PML-N’s governments in the centre and Punjab were spending the taxpayers’ money on self-projection, which was wrong.

He said Shahbaz Sharif had challenged the rule of law by threatening the NAB.

Imran Khan said the prime minister and opposition leader had jointly appointed the NAB chairman.

He alleged that Sharif family was receiving huge kickbacks in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

The PTI chief said the federal government was building the eastern route of the CPEC to flourish the businesses of Sharif family in Punjab.

He said the Ehtesab Commission was working independently in KP as a sitting minister was arrested on corruption charges.

Imran Khan said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had never pressured the Ehtesab Commission or sought its favours.

He said the Pakistan Institute of Legislation Development and Transparency had acknowledged that in KP, governance and transparency had improved and the incidence of corruption had reduced compared to the three other provinces.

When asked about a split in MQM and allegations of former Karachi nazim Mustafa Kamal against party chief Altaf Hussain, the PTI chief said Mustafa Kamal was very credible person.

He demanded the formation of a commission to look into the ‘revelations’ of Mustafa Kamal.

“I had revealed in 2007 that Altaf Hussain had connections with the Indian intelligence agency, RAW,” he said.

Imran Khan said 234 cases including those of murder were registered against the MQM chief but the successive governments didn’t take action against him in the name of the so-called reconciliation.

He said a reporter of an Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times, had told him that RAW had displayed posters of Altaf Hussain in New Delhi in 2003 when he was invited for a conference.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016