ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Wednesday rejected the latest round of statements made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the floor of the National Assembly regarding the legitimacy of the PTI government formed in 2018.

During an NA session on Tuesday, the premier, noting that Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai had called the incumbent government “illegitimate”, asserted that the 2018 elections should be investigated.

He contended that if the government that came after those polls was legitimate, the incumbent government was also legitimate.

On Wednesday, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in a statement: “In a remarkable display of selective memory and political acrobatics, Shehbaz Sharif attempted to equate the current Form-47 regime with the 2018 elections, claiming that if one was legitimate, so is the other.

“PTI views this not as a defence but as a tacit admission that the February 2024 elections witnessed one of the most brazen thefts of the people’s mandate in the nation’s history,” he alleged.

He argued that while PTI founder Imran Khan had, after the 2018 elections, publicly offered to open the results of any constituency for independent investigation if the opposition harboured doubts, the current rulers were “visibly terrified of any forensic audit, biometric verification, or transparent scrutiny of their victory”.

“If Shehbaz Sharif truly believes his own rhetoric, why does his government recoil at the mere suggestion of an independent examination of the 2024 results? The answer lies in the fragile foundation of Form-47 itself,” he said, referring to the PTI’s allegations of tempering of election documents in 2024.

Akram called on the government to conduct a full, transparent and judicially supervised audit of both the 2018 and 2024 elections so that the people of Pakistan and the world can see whose claim to public trust was genuine.

Speaking about the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the party spokesperson expressed concern over the reported massive irregularities in the scheme, which a news outlet quoted the Auditor General of Pakistan’s audit report for the financial year 2024-25.

“More than Rs25 billion has been disbursed through highly suspicious and illegal channels. Even more shockingly, Rs3.17bn was spent without parliamentary approval or ICPC clearance, a clear case of financial lawlessness”, Akram claimed.

He alleged that through the deliberate manipulation of data systems and spouse data profiling, over 600,000 ineligible individuals, including government employees, siphoned off funds meant exclusively for poor widows, orphans and destitute families.

Akram demanded an immediate Supreme Court-monitored judicial inquiry into the BISP irregularities, as well as the “full and immediate recovery of every rupee from all involved officials with the harshest legal action”.

He further demanded suspensions and criminal prosecution of all BISP officials and IT personnel involved in data tampering.

Meanwhile, on the recent unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Akram expressed deep alarm over the political and administrative situation in the region.

He strongly condemned the government’s “negligence”, claiming that it chose “the path of force, arbitrary arrests, and inflammatory rhetoric”. For its part, the AJK government has asserted it has tried to resolve the dispute with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) peacefully.

This approach, he warned, “was pushing the sensitive region towards greater instability and public alienation”.

Akram announced that PTI would pursue all available legal avenues against PM Shehbaz, the Punjab government and the relevant jail authorities for “endangering Imran Khan’s health and life”.

He also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all PTI prisoners, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, and other leaders.