PESHAWAR: State minister for information and broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday claimed the Joint Investigation Team probe would exonerate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from all Panama Papers case charges.

She also said though his name was not mentioned in the Panama Papers case, the prime minister presented his entire family for accountability.

The minister said this during the ‘Meet the Press’ programme at the Peshawar Press Club, where the prime minister’s adviser, Amir Muqam, and PML-N woman MNA Tahira Bukhari were also present.

Ms Marriyum said there was nothing in the Panama Papers case but PTI chairman Imran Khan was raising it without reason.

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“Now, Imran Khan has realised that the prime minister will be honourably exonerated by the JIT probe,” she said.

The minister said the PM’s name didn’t appear in the case and that the details of the finances of his son and his late father were presented before the courts.

She said the prime minister had established by appearing before the JIT that no one enjoyed immunity from accountability.

Ms Marriyum alleged that the trail of money used to purchase Imran Khan’s Banigala mansion appeared on social media only and that the PTI chief didn’t presented it in the court of law.

On the issues of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, she said the federal government was committed to implementing the administrative and judicial reforms for the region in consultation with all stakeholders for its development and protection of the rights of its people.

About the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the minister said the multibillion dollars project was a ‘great gift’ of the prime minister for the next generations as it would turn out to be a game-changer not only for Pakistan but also for the entire region.

She said the PML-N government turned around the national economy, put the country on the path of development and took ‘practical’ measures for the welfare of the people.

Ms Marriyum said the prime minister’s health insurance scheme and many other plans had been executed across the country to the benefit of the poor people.

She said the PML-N government would keep its promise of ending loadshedding by early next year.

The minister said the prime minister had announced a package of financial assistance for the families of the Parachinar blast victims and therefore, the issue shouldn’t be politicised.

She also said it was wrong to wrong to give a ‘sectarian colour’ to the Parachinar blasts.

The minister insisted that PTI chairman Imran Khan was least concerned about the pressing national issues and was instead playing negative politics by leveling false allegations against rivals.

“Imran Khan has become a professor of politics while sitting in (his mansion in) Banigala,” she said sarcastically, adding that the PTI chief had always used his cancer hospital and Cricket World Cup victory to serve political ends.

Ms Marriyum said she didn’t find the billion trees, which PTI chief had claimed to have planted in the province.

She also said the PTI government had denied basic rights to the people in the province.

Earlier, the minister visited to a local hospital to inquire after veteran journalist Sharif Farooq.

She also offered prayers for the people, who died in Parachinar bomb blast, Ahmadpur Sharqiya oil tanker fire incident and Quetta incident, and journalist Bakhshish Elahi, who was gunned down in Haripur of late.

Earlier, the minister met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2017