ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recorded on Wednesday his statement with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the Asghar Khan case relating to distribution of Rs140 million among components of an anti-PPP alliance of parties prior to the 1990 elections.

Addressing a press conference at Punjab House, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he hoped there would be progress in the case, but added that the statements of certain ex-army officers were the biggest stumbling block.

Asked whether the statements submitted by the servicemen before the Supreme Court would be sufficient for the purpose, the minister said had those statements been enough, the court would have decided the case on its own.

Interior minister says he doesn’t need to go through defence ministry to reach GHQ

He said that all the cases with the FIA, including the Asghar Khan case, would be taken to their logical conclusion.

Referring to a multi-billion rupee scam in the Employees’ Old-Age Benefit Institution, he said that the Supreme Court’s Tuesday decision was a testimony to the fact that FIA had made remarkable progress in the case.

Talking about the treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, he said the interior ministry had done its job and any delays were due to an order passed by the Islamabad High Court.

When asked about his differences with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif — who a day earlier had said he had not been on talking terms with him (Chaudhry Nisar) for several years, the minister said he did not need to go through the Defence Ministry to interact with General Headquarters (GHQ) and the armed forces in the past, nor would such a need arise in the future.

To a question about his closeness with the military establishment, he said the military establishment was also part of the government. Ground realities require a continuous liaison with the armed forces.

Asked about the agenda of talks during the PM’s upcoming visit to the US, the interior minister — who is expected to be part of the PM’s entourage alongside the defence minister — said that Pakistan would talk about its interests and concerns. “There will be a reaction if our so-called friends speak the language of foes,” he remarked.

He said that the role of the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Pakistan was obvious and the issue of Indian-sponsored terrorism would be raised during the US visit.

He said that while allegations that Pakistani non-state actors were involved in terrorism in India were unfounded, India had already admitted that its state actors were involved in fostering terrorism in Pakistan.

Responding to another question, he said that elaborate security arrangements were being made for Muharram and around 10,000 army troops and 6,300 paramilitary personnel were being deployed across the country.

Chaudhry Nisar also rejected the claims made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan regarding the transfer of votes from other constituencies to NA-122 (Lahore), just before the by-elections. He said accepting defeat in an open contest with an open heart was a sign of greatness and the PTI should learn this.

He said the number of voters in NA-122 rose by 25,929 between May 11, 2013 and August 26, 2015 — the date on which the schedule for local government elections in Punjab was announced. He said these included people who had attained the age of 18 and became eligible voters for the first time.

He said there was an increase of 23,355, 29,633, 28,524 and 36,124 voters in NA-120, NA-121, NA-123 and NA-124 during the time.

He said no vote could be transferred without an application submitted by the voter himself.

He said the number of votes transferred to NA-122 from other constituencies during this period was 6,797. He said that 6,000 of these votes had been transferred in 2013, 17 in 2014 and 780 in 2015.

He also said that 7,780 votes had been transferred from NA-122 to other constituencies during this time.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2015

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