ISLAMABAD - Instead of coming up with clarification on the prime minister’s family position in Panama leaks, the government team yesterday launched a counter-allegation campaign against the PTI chief for his alleged offshore investment.
A huddle of federal and state ministers, using PID media centre for explaining the Sharif family’s involvement in the offshore companies and settling political scores with PTI, was a questionable move.
Addressing a press conference, the ministers launched a campaign against the PTI chief for misusing the charity funds collected for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH).
Central PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz said Imran Khan had been part of a global network engaged in the business of real estate.
Flanked by Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Privatisation Muhammad Zubair, Daniyal alleged millions of rupees of cancer hospital collected for the treatment of poor patients were lost in the real estate business in Oman. Daniyal added the information was collected from the audit report of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust.
According to the audit report, 2010, of the trust, Aziz said this investment had been made through an investment company, HBG Management Partners Limited, based in Dubai and Cinnabar International Services Limited (CISL), a subsidiary of HBG Investment Holdings Limited.
According to the documents, CISL owns 3,000 shares as on December 31, 2010, in Sugarland Real Estate (BVI) Limited, a special-purpose entity incorporated by HBG to undertake the development of a real estate project in Oman.
Daniyal further said the purchased land and development costs are currently appearing in the financial statements of Sugarland Real Estate (BVI) Limited at the aggregated cost of $ 28.323 million reduced to $ 18.256 million, thereby resulting in a carrying amount of $ 10.067 million as on December 31, 2010.
Pervaiz Rashid said the PML-N government had constituted a judicial commission to inform the masses of the reality regarding the Panama Papers. The old information was being presented in a new style, he added.
He said all the allegations of Imran Khan against the PML-N government had been proven false.
Minister of State for CADD Tariq Fazal Chaudhary said the allegations against PML-N leaders were only levelled through the media, which couldn’t be proven in courts. He said PTI couldn’t prove any allegation regarding general elections 2013 in the judicial commission.
Tariq said the children of Nawaz Sharif had been doing their business abroad for the last 20 years.
Minister of State for Privatisation Muhammad Zubair claimed the Panama documents being displayed on the social and electronic media had no authenticity and the matter must be probed. Zubair said Imran Khan who always accused PML-N leadership of not paying taxes was hiding his property until he entered the Parliament. He urged the media to probe Imran Khan’s tax returns and asked him why he had not filed his tax returns during his career as a cricketer.
“You need to ask him on whose plane he went to Kolcata and whose plane he is using locally,” Zubair said, adding he went there recently on a chartered plane owned by Malik Riaz.
Replying to a query why the government team is here to the rescue of private people, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, Pervaiz Rashid replied they were not protecting private individuals, but some people were trying to involve Nawaz Sharif in the scandal.
Answering a question, the information minister said they were not going to any court, but would refute his lies in the general elections of 2018. “I will go to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his constituency and everywhere to ask the people to knock him out,” he said.
Answering another question, Pervaiz Rashid said the name of Iceland’s prime minister had been mentioned in the Panama leaks, but there was no mention of Nawaz Sharif. Panama leaks just shared the information about the prime minister’s family and there was no allegation of malpractice, Pervaiz Rashid added.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), soon after the press conference of the PML-N ministers, rejected all the allegations levelled by the government against Imran Khan.
PTI said the government was using state resources to defend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family following revelations of Panama Papers and questioned why the ministers were using the platform of PID in this connection.
“PTI will hold a press conference at 3pm today at PID and if the government stops it, we will resist and go to the court,” said PTI Secretary Information Naeemul Haq while addressing a hurriedly-called press conference. He also said PTV should give time to Imran Khan for an address to the nation as has been done by the prime minister.
He said the PTI chairman had no assets abroad and the allegations in this regard were totally wrong.