ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday constituted a committee to scrutinise the assets of parliamentarians, PTI leaders and politicians interested in joining the party.
Khan announced the formation of the investigative committee at a press conference held after a meeting of the PTI CEC. He said the committee would be headed by PTI Vice President Hamid Khan, and a team of former NAB investigators, retired army officers and lawyers would assist him.“The scrutiny committee will look for assets obtain through corruption and all politicians, including those in the PTI, will be scrutinised,” the PTI chief said. He added that the CEC had decided to file an application in the NAB to investigate the “illegal” awarding of a contract to M/s Karkay Karandiz Company, which is owned by a close relative of the prime minister, for installing a power generation plant in Karachi.
He claimed that the company had been questioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), however the government had “illegally” issued 14 percent payment in advance. Khan further alleged that the government, while awarding the contract, had approved higher tariff. “The cost of the plant is $130 million and under the contract the company will earn $540 million in five years… It will be a test case for NAB to probe this scam,” Khan said.He announced that in the near future, the PTI would hold a massive rally in Karachi. “Karachi’s gathering would be bigger than the PTI’s recent rally in Lahore,” Khan claimed.
Khan said the CEC had decided to continue party interaction with political entities against the status quo. He said the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had been trying to preserve the status quo.“My party will welcome everyone to join… but it will not award ticket to anyone corrupt,” he announced, adding, “My party will welcome all new entrants, but they will be routed through the authorised party channels only.” He said the PTI would file two separate petitions in the Supreme Court for the registration of voters in accordance with their permanent addresses and for registration of votes of the overseas Pakistanis.
To a query, Khan said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was not an independent body. He said the ECP had so far failed in holding a free, fair and transparent election.Talking about the next general elections, he said, “All attempts to hold fraudulent elections in the country will be thwarted…if the next elections are rigged, then the PTI will bring the entire country to a standstill.”Khan said the military would not exert control over the government if it had moral strength. He said a corrupt leader would always bow to the military. “If I faced any undue interference after coming into power, I would prefer to step down and once again go to the people,” he vowed. – PT
