ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan fondly speaks of his war on corruption while guarding like a custodian the established “symbols of corruption” he appointed to government offices.

Reacting to the PM’s news conference in Lahore, Ms Aurangzeb said in a statement on Sunday that while talking about corruption Mr Khan ignored the donations of millions of rupees the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had allegedly received through Hundi, adding that the party had filed five writ petitions in the court to keep the issue under wraps.

“The government cannot hide its failing 100 days plan behind these cosmetic diversions of blame-game and illegal arrests of the opposition leadership,” she said.

PML-N leader accuses Imran of inducting ‘symbols of corruption’ into govt

The PML-N leader said the PM needed to explain the rationale of Rs45 billion loan taken by the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and where was the money spent?

Ms Aurangzeb pointed out that the PTI had repeatedly talked about increase in gas and electricity prices and promised to bring them down. But, now the party’s government had further increased prices of these utilities, she added.

The PM had mentioned encouraging whistleblowers while when whistleblowers like retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad, Hamid Khan and Akbar Babar revealed corruption in the PTI ranks, they were silenced, she said.

“The PM needs to tell the nation when will the offshore properties of Zulfi Bukhari, Aleema Khan and Jahangir Tareen be auctioned?” she asked.

Ms Aurangzeb questioned different standards of appointing chief ministers, saying that Mr Khan said he had appointed Usman Buzdar as Punjab chief minister because he was a poor man who understands problems of the underprivileged. “How­ever, if this is the rationale for appointing chief ministers, why did the PTI appoint a ‘Nawab’ as the chief minister of Baloc­histan instead of a poor and humble man” she asked.

Pakistan Peoples Party secretary general Farhat­ullah Babar in his reaction said that the PM’s press conference was “the rant and knee jerk reaction of a frustrated man, who faces with the realities of the situation on the one hand and his own incompetence on the other, does not know how to go about the statecraft”.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Babar said as usual Mr Khan laid the blame of poor economy on previous governments, but did not state how he was going to fix it. “He claims to bring back the looted money of the country, but does not explain how will he do it?” he asked.

The PM talked of whistle blower act and witness protection act to end corruption but forgot that he himself disbanded the accountability commission in KP.

Mr Babar said the claim that no one guilty of corruption would be spared was welcome.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2018