ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Auran­gzeb lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday, saying the former premier was “looking for crutches” to remain in politics following the leak of audio clips, which “exposed” the truth behind his claims of a foreign conspiracy.

“The entire game of Imran Khan’s foreign conspiracy has been exposed and he is looking for crutches to remain in politics,” said the federal minister during a press conference in Islamabad. “He [Imran] wants the [national] institutions to violate their oath and become part of his game,” she said, adding that Mr Khan will not be able to find the support he was looking for.

Describing the ex-PM as a “foreign agent and a “conspirator”, the minister said, “Imran Khan is calling the institutions as watchmen, but the watchmen are the protectors of the nation…not guards of his seat of power.”

Cipher saga

About the cipher controversy, she said that the PTI chief allegedly manipulated the contents of the cipher after realising that he was going to be ousted through a no-confidence motion in April.

Ms Aurangzeb said Mr Khan should be “taught a lesson so that no one can play with the national interest and the constitution in future”. She added, “Imran Khan misled the country and the nation…[and] violated parliamentary and constitutional norms for vested interests.”

The minister said that the cipher came on March 7 and it was received by the Foreign Office on March 8. She added that on March 9, a copy of the cipher was ordered from the Prime Minister’s House but Imran Khan waved this paper during a public rally on March 27 because the no-confidence motion against him was succeeding.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2022