PESHAWAR - Coming down hard on PML-N’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, PTI chief Imran Khan said on Tuesday that both were helping each other to save their skin and they would do so as both were involved in corruption and money-laundering scams.

He said that after Sharif, it was the turn of Zardari to face the music. He alleged that former finance minister Ishaq Dar was the front man of Sharif and Zardari has been involved in money-laundering of Rs70 billion and a huge money-laundering case has been opened against him.

Addressing public gatherings in Besham, Shangla and Buner, the PTI chief lashed out at PML-N supporters saying they were preparing to welcome the ousted prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz as if they were returning home after winning a world cup.

“Nawaz Sharif has won the world cup of corruption. He was ousted for corruption and now he is seeking a grand reception,” he said. Khan said that both the father and the daughter were involved in stealing over Rs300 billion from the country. “Looters who should be sent to jail are instead being sent to assemblies. If those harming the country are roaming around freely, then why the small-time crooks should be sent to jail,” he said.

He labelled Zardari as the ‘Godfather of robbers’ and said that both Sharif and Zardari always help each when they are in trouble. “If Nawaz Sharif is caught, Zardari steps in to help him out,” the PTI chief said.

He alleged that the rupee depreciated due to Sharif and Zardari which led to rising prices and increased foreign debts. “The country can flourish if we bring both their wealth back to the country.”

Criticizing JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Khan said that every government leaves two things behind, an empty treasury and Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He also criticized ANP’s chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and asked him why he was being referred to as “easy-load.”

Khan said that he struggled for over decades to make people realize that corruption was the biggest issue facing the nation and now the country was reeling under indebts of foreign loans.

“Where is the nation standing today due to the corruption rulers? If my workers did not support me, I would not have been here today.”  He urged the people to vote for an ideology on July 25 rather than the kinship. He said that even the Jamaat-e-Islami had lodged a case against Sharif, and still the PML-N was considering forming an alliance with them in Buner district. He said that they will have to rid the country of thieves and plunderers to put Pakistan on the path of progress and prosperity.

 “The money which was supposed to be spent on public welfare was plundered by the corrupt elements,” he said.

He asked PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to tell the public how much property his father had amassed abroad. “The people could not be cheated by the corrupt Sharif family anymore, their time is over and it’s time for them to be jailed,” he added.