ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday decided to refer to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) a case pertaining to the alleged misuse of public funds in the election campaign of Kulsoom Nawaz, the late wife of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, in the 2017 by-poll for NA-120 seat.

During a meeting with government spokespersons, Prime Minister Khan said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was allowed to hold its public meeting in Gujranwala so that the opposition could not use it as a ‘political card’.

Talking to Dawn, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said the prime minister, while commenting on the alleged rigging in by-polls for NA-120 seat, said the PML-N always manipulated elections for desired results.

He said the case was being sent to NAB, adding that the opposition had accused the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of rigging the general elections in 2018, but it [opposition] filed fewer petitions in the election tribunals than that submitted by the PTI.

The minister quoted Prime Minister Khan as saying: “The PML-N and PPP had always paralysed institutions by placing their own men there for achieving personal objectives.”

Imran says PDM rally allowed to stop opposition from gaining political mileage

He said the leaders of the two opposition parties lavishly spent state money to serve their interests, destroying the very idea behind the creation of Pakistan which was to give priority and basic rights to the poor.

“This country was not meant for specific families but for the entire nation,” he added.

Earlier, Adviser to the PM on Interior and Accounta­bility Shahzad Akbar, at a press conference in Lahore on Wednesday, claimed that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz rigged the NA-120 by-election in 2017 by distributing Rs2.5 billion in funds for development schemes in violation of the ECP rules and regulations.

The election was won by Kulsoom Nawaz who later died after a protracted illness in September 2018.

A participant of the meeting, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the prime minister was of the view that if the government had not permitted the opposition to hold its rally in Gujranwala, it [opposition] could have exploited the situation to gain political mileage.

“He (PM) did not want to see the opposition using it for political point scoring,” he said.

Provincial financial awards

Prime Minister Khan stressed the need for provincial financial awards, saying that transparent and equitable distribution of revenue was essential to ensure uniform level of development in the provinces.

Presiding over a high-level meeting on development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly the newly merged districts, and Punjab, he said equitable distribution of financial resources at district and provincial levels was one of the top priorities of the government.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry and Omar Ayub Khan, PM’s Adviser on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, provincial finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and other officials. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht and the chief secretary attended the meeting through a video link.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2020