F.P. Report
LAHORE: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Interior Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that evidence in the form of audiotapes of getting bribe for grant of tickets to the candidates had exposed the real face of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its belief in justice.
Addressing a press conference here at Model Town, he said that from the party chief to other senior leaders, everyone had been found involved in bribery, as disclosed in the audiotapes, making rounds on the social media. The PTI claimed itself to be a party based on justice, but its entire leadership was involved in minting money for award of party tickets, he added. He said it was a serious matter and should be investigated.
The SAPM said conspiracies had been hatched against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from day one, and the recent audio-leaks had strengthened its stance about wrong and unjustified disqualification of Nawaz Sharif on the basis of only an Iqama. He demanded that investigations should be held into the audio-tapes, so that facts could be brought to the fore and action could be taken against conspirators.
Atta Tarar regretted that the nation paid huge price for disqualification of Nawaz Sharif in Panama case, as the speedy process of development in the country was stopped after that. The PML-N government started various mega projects in 2013, and overcame various challenges including load-shedding. People faced tough situation after 2018, as nothing was done for their welfare by the PTI government, except for looting the national resources mercilessly, he said.
The SAPM said the PML-N believed in supremacy of the law and justice for everyone, as nobody was above the law. The PML-N leadership faced jails and courts for years in fabricated cases, registered against them during the PTI regime, though nothing was proved against anyone. He said the PTI leaders including its chief were avoiding the courts to appear in cases registered by investigation agencies.
To a question, Atta Tarar alleged that Moonis Elahi was involved in corruption of billions of rupees in Lahore masterplan, and now he was sitting abroad to avoid investigation against him and other leaders, who were involved in corrupt practices. He said reckless corruption was committed in the Punjab province during the PTI government, where Ahsan Jamil Gujjar and his wife Farah Gogi were acting as the front persons. He said a puppet chief minister Usman Buzdar was appointed on the recommendation of Imran Khan’s wife.
To another query, he said the PTI was not a political party as they were brainwashing the youth and misguiding the nation through social media campaigns, being run inside and outside the country.
He said the coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was working tirelessly to steer the country out of the current challenges. He said the federal government had reached agreement with Russia for import of oil on cheaper rates. He thanked the governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for expressing their trust in the present government and extending financial support to help the country out in current situation. The SAPM said that the present leadership was rebuilding its relations with the brotherly countries, which were damaged by the previous PTI government.
