LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation Khwaja Saad Rafique said on Monday the coalition parties ousted former prime minister Imran Khan through means available in the Constitution to foil a “conspiracy” aimed at bringing him back in power with a two-thirds majority by fudging results through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), making appointments in the armed forces beyond merit and defacing the 1973 Constitution.

Talking to journalists outside an accountability court here, he alleged the facilitators of ‘project Imran’ wanted to introduce presidential form of government, wiping out political leadership in the country.

However, he said economic meltdown was the main reason to oust the Imran Khan government and it was done without any support from the establishment.

Saad said the political parties in the coalition had no idea that their government would have to face “conspiracies by the facilitators of project Imran sitting in the institutions”.

Alleges ‘facilitators’ of ousted premier in institutions still hatching conspiracies

He alleged a huge investment had been made in the “project” of launching Imran Khan and that the PML-N’s mandate was snatched in the 2018 general elections. He said his party accepted the results of “rigged” elections only to protect the country from destabilisation.

He asked the “facilitators” of Imran Khan to stay clam as their project had failed.

The minister said the minds of the younger generation had been polluted against political leadership of the country by design through false propaganda since 2011. He said efforts had been made to project the former prime minister as an angel.

He said the PTI government made shameless agreements with the IMF and destroyed the economy of the country.

About the Supreme Court’s proceedings in the case pertaining to the election of Punjab chief minister, Mr Saad said the courts could only interpret the Constitution and that too only in accordance with the supreme law.

Earlier, Saad and his brother Khwaja Salman Rafiq appeared before the court in the hearing of Paragon reference against them.

The court adjourned the hearing till Aug 5 due to a strike of lawyers against the murder of the Punjab Bar Council’s secretary Ashraf Rahi.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference accuses the Khwaja brothers of wrongfully receiving around Rs18.2 million from M/s Paragon City (pvt) Limited in their bank accounts. It says the brothers, through their “benamidars” and with the abetment of Qaiser Amin Butt, a former MPA, and a private person, Nadeem Zia, established a housing scheme -- Air Avenue -- and later changed its name to avoid legal actions.

It say the suspects, along with their accomplices, cheated the public at large and obtained illegal financial benefits from the funds of the illegal society.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2022