ISLAMABAD - Defending his derogatory remarks against the parliament, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said on Thursday how he can respect an institution that was in control of a mafia.

He also accused ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif of destroying the parliament as an institution.

Addressing a press conference, PTI chief refused to withdraw the remarks about the parliament during his address to a PAT-led rally of opposition parties in Lahore on Wednesday.

He said that these were the “mild words that he used for the parliament as he wanted to use more harsh language against all those looters (lawmakers) sitting inside the parliament and protecting a proven criminal (Nawaz Sharif).

Khan, at the Mall Road rally, had endorsed the remarks of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed who cursed the parliament. He also agreed with Rasheed’s proposal to quit from the assemblies on the ground that the parliament had lost its utility as protector of people’s rights.

Accompanied by disqualified PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, Imran Khan said that his party still had not decided to tender resignations from the parliament en-masse and a debate was going on within the party over the matter.

Later in the evening, political secretary to PTI chairman, Aown Chaudhry said that an important meeting of the party’s central executive committee had been summoned on January 23. According to party sources, the option of resignations would be discussed in the meeting.

Earlier before his presser, Khan took to Twitter telling his followers to “Fasten your seatbelts as I will be making explosive revelations in my press conference this afternoon!”

However, his much-awaited press conference only contained allegations against the Sharif family.

Responding to a volley of questions from the journalists whether he would withdraw is remarks against the parliament, chairman PTI said, “Parliament is the name of a building. It is the parliamentarians who take the parliament forward or destroy it. The people like Nawaz Sharif and Khawaj Asif have destroyed the parliament.”

He asked if there was any example in the world of a legislative house making a law in favour a culprit who has to answer about (alleged) corruption money amounting to Rs300 billion, tax theft and perjury.

He was referring to the Election Bill 2017, adopted by the National Assembly last year, which paved the way for Nawaz Sharif, after his disqualification, to be re-elected as the head of the ruling PML-N.

Imran Khan said it was the same parliament where former PM openly lied on the floor of the house about his business’s money trail while former law minister gave contradictory statements about amendment in Khatm-e-Nabuwwat law.

He questioned the utility of the parliament saying that Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq rejected a corruption reference against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif whose name was in the Panama Papers and on the other side, he (speaker) forwarded a reference against him to the Election Commission of Pakistan – though his name was not in the Panama leaks.

Responding to questions, he said that the opposition parties sat together in Lahore to protest over the Model Town tragedy as it was a humanitarian cause.

He also lashed out at Khawaja Asif and said, “Give me an example of any democracy in the world whose foreign minister works in a company of Dubai and gets Rs1.6 million salary per month.”

PTI chief also alleged that money from Asif’s Dubai based bank accounts was being laundered to US through wife’s accounts.

“How can he represent Pakistan?” he further asked, and termed the foreign minister a security risk for the country.

Corruption allegations against Sharifs

Imran Khan alleged that Sharif family was involved in money laundering through 16 companies, including FZE Capital and Hill Metals, in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He said that wealth of Sharif family considerably increased since 1992 as they had formed a system of money laundering. He said that Sharif family sent back the laundered money, after whitening it, by misusing names of 46 individuals.

He alleged that Hill Metals, the company of Hussain Nawaz, had sent back 1.14 billion rupees to Pakistan. He said that the money was transferred from the accounts of Hill Metals in the name of police constables, personal secretaries, the employees of Sharif Medial City and drivers as well as personal employees of Sharif family at Jati Umra.

So The Hill Metals sent back 1.74 billion rupees, out of which Rs500 million were sent in the names of servants of Sharif family and 800 million in the name of Maryam Nawaz.

“We are talking about the prime minister of this country who was doing this,” Imran said.

Giving further details, he said, “Money from an Iqbal Anjum who works in Saudi Arabia goes to Aurangzeb Akhtar, constable Punjab Police, and Mohammad Iqbal, constable Punjab Police.”

Further, Rs180m were sent by Sharifs’ driver Punnoo Khan to Asim Mehmood who worked at Sharif Medical Complex, Khan alleged. Saleem, an employee at Jati Umra sent Rs50m again to Asim Mehmood, he said adding that similarly, Nadeem Sarwar, a constable at Punjab Police had also been receiving money.

He claimed that Asim Mehmood further sent Rs240m to Nawaz Sharif’s employees including Muhammad Aslam; Laiq Khan a waiter; Karamt Ali, Shahid Farooq, both drivers; and Zahroorul Haq.

It is obvious that the money was not going to the drivers but going to the Sharif’s accounts, he said.

He congratulated NAB of issuing a notice to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He also asked NAB chief not to take pressure with regard to the reopening of Hudaibiya Paper Mills case, saying “it was an open and shut case now.”

Khan also criticised the Jang and Geo Media Group saying it has been running a media campaign against him and his party. He asked the group to make public the statements of accounts of all its businesses.

Sharifs deny allegations

Staff reporter from Lahore adds: The spokesman of the Sharif family has denied the allegations levelled by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The spokesman termed ridiculous and baseless the allegations of money laundering. He said Imran even did not know what he was saying before the media. The allegations show the extreme level of frustration Imran Khan was facing in the political arena, he said.