Imran says ready to reveal name of person who offered Rs10b on ‘Sharifs’ behalf’

Imran Khan address a rally in Islamabad’s Parade Ground on Friday. PHOTO: INP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said he would reveal the name of the person who offered him Rs10 billion on “behalf of the Sharif family” if the Supreme Court provide him protection.

“The Sharifs have a history of suppressing people. Therefore, first I will ask the Supreme Court to provide protection to the person who brought me the offer of Rs10bn made by the Sharif family then I will disclose his name,” said Imran while addressing a massive rally at Islamabad’s Parade Ground  Friday evening.

Referring to his claim that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had offered him Rs10 billion to back down from the Panamagate case, the PTI chief said, “It would be good if [Punjab Chief Minister] Shahbaz Sharif takes me to the court [on defamation charges].”

To prove his point, Imran also offered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to take oath on the Holy Quran by saying that they did not offer him ‘bribe’, then he will withdraw his claim.

“PM has no option but to resign,” he added.

The PTI leader went on to say: “At one time, Pakistan was going to become a respectable and great country. Our president was welcomed by US president while our deputy commissioner would welcome UAE president at the airport on his visit to Pakistan,” adding, “Now we have lost that respect. Pakistan nationals are searched at airports with disgrace.”

Earlier, the charged participants of the rally kept chanting “Go Nawaz Go”, waiting for Imran to come to the stage.

PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Jahangir Tareen and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak as well as Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed were present on the stage.

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“The whole nation is looking up to Imran Khan now,” Rasheed told reporters. “Two of the five Supreme Court judges who heard the Panama Papers case have observed that Nawaz Sharif is neither saadiq, nor ameen,” he added.

“The other judges too have given 60 days to him to prove his innocence. The prime minister is a security threat to the nation now and has to go.”

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the success of the rally had proved that the PTI’s efforts had not gone in vain.

“Many political pundits had advised us to not approach the court, but the Supreme Court’s verdict has proved that we had made the right move by doing so,” he added.

Political parties have escalated their campaign against the ruling PML-N following the Panamagate verdict on April 20 which ruled that the PM and his sons, Hasan and Hussain will have to appear before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to record their statements.

The apex court, however, did not disqualify the PM, citing absence of adequate evidence in the case. The JIT has been given two months to complete its probe into the case.

On Wednesday, civilian and military agencies submitted to the apex court the names of the candidates who would represent them in the JIT.

Govt offered me Rs10b to stay mum on Panama case, claims Imran

On April 25, the PTI chairman created a stir when he said the government had offered him Rs10 billion to stay silent on the Panamagate case. The remarks have prompted calls from the opposition to reveal the names of those who made the offer.

In the summer of 2014, Khan had led a previous mass protest lasted four months, allying himself with cleric Tahirul Qadri for a sit-in in front of the parliament calling for the government to resign over election rigging allegations.

Hundreds of protesters had briefly seized the state broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation’s (PTV) headquarters. Transmissions of PTV were cut after protesters armed with clubs stormed the building in Islamabad’s high-security “red zone”, before being removed by security forces after around half an hour.

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As a result of that protest, the government had come up with a draft bill on electoral reforms – The Election Bill, 2017 – that primarily focused on fine-tuning the existing election laws in the country.