MULTAN: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Jahangir Khan Tareen says Imran Khan has the authority to nominate anybody for any slot in the party and he (Tareen) is the legitimate general secretary of the PTI.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said: “Pervez Khatak was my predecessor and when he assumed the office of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, the party’s central executive committee authorised Imran Khan to nominate any person for any important slot.”

Tareen said he would file a defamation suit against Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid if he (Rashid) did not apologise to him for allegations regarding the jet under Imran Khan’s use.

He said 70 per cent of the expenses of the jet were being paid by him and his other family members. He said since September 30, 2013, Rs57.8 million were spent on jet out of which he and his family paid Rs40.8 million.

“All the expenses of the jet are available in documents and the defamation notice to Mr Rashid will be served when my company’s lawyer will come back from a foreign tour,” he said.

Tareen said he had the audit report of the company and as per the company’s bylaws he was entitled to use the jet by paying the expenses.

He said Mr Rashid should also disclose how the Sharifs used to travel on planes when they were not in power.

He said he did not initiate any business in KP after the PTI was voted to power in the province. “I had launched a business project in KP in 2008 and that contract will end in 2020.”

He said the government had failed to solve the issues of farming community and “farmers are suffering as cotton and rice are not attracting buyers.”

He said the government could not stop PTI’s public gathering on Nov 30 in Islamabad.

“The government will be responsible for the situation if it tried to arrest the workers or stop them from entering Islamabad,” he said.

The PTI leader said Imran would decide on Nov 30 either the activity would be limited to a public gathering or it would be a sit-in.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014