F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Expressing his complete confidence in the Supreme Court, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said that he still believes that Jehangir Khan Tareen is sadiq and ameen (honest and trustworthy) despite being disqualified.
“There was nothing illegal there. It was his legal money. It’s a large business so he may have missed out on it,” he said speaking during a private television channel programme.
Khattak said that there were nothing illegal proved on Tareen, neither there was any involvement in corruption or money laundering.
When asked that ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif had the similar accusations and was dismissed over an iqama (residence permit) and receivable income, Khattak said that there is a long story behind it in the Panama Papers case.
Khattak expressed his complete and unflinching trust in the Supreme Court, but said that he still believes that Tareen is sadiq and ameen (honest and trustworthy) and there might be come technical mistake.
“I cannot say whether Tareen is sadiq and ameen. However, I still believe that he is sadiq and ameen,” he said adding that politicians, including Sharif and Tareen, should remain alert over such technical issues.
When asked if Tareen should remain the general secretary of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the chief minister said that he should not as they have a standpoint as Nawaz Sharif took the leadership of his party after being disqualified, but maintained that he can remain part of the party. ‘Never gave statement in favour of the Taliban’… Really?
CM KP Pervez Khattak seemed to be in tough position when he was reminded to have spoken in favour of the Taliban when he was elected as chief minister in 2013.
Khattak admitted that Tehreek-e-Pakistan (TTP) was a terrorist organisation, which he claimed had been wiped out and was now in a different form. However, Khattak denied that he had spoken in favour of the Taliban and only said he had agreed to talks with them as said by PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Khattak was challenged by anchor Waseem Badami that he had indeed given the statement, and would only issue a public apology if the chief minister had not.
“We request the Taliban that we had no enmity with then. This is your province, your country. We are not against anyone, and do not want to fight with you.
“We want peace in the country, and those who are willing to speak to us peacefully, we should be given an opportunity to speak to them,” he was quoted as saying.