ISLAMABAD: As the day of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) planned shutdown of the capital approaches, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has stepped up its attacks on Imran Khan.

At a crowded press conference at the Press Information Department on Wednesday, PML-N MNA Daniyal Aziz did his best to smear the PTI chief, calling him “a liar” and “a fraud”.

But the presser, whose agenda was mostly hurling ridicule on the PTI, was begun on a different note by Privatisation Commission Chairman Mohammad Zubair.

Daniyal Aziz details offshore holdings of PTI leaders, repeats allegations of misappropriation of Shaukat Khanum funds

He raised several questions about the credibility of Imran Khan’s claims regarding the Panama Papers leaks and said the PTI chief had failed to provide proof of his allegations.

But after his introductory remarks, he then turned over the floor to Mr Aziz, who was decidedly more aggressive in his tone.

In a decidedly colloquial attack, Mr Aziz gave detailed misappropriation of $3 million in donations to the Shaukat Khanum Foundation, which was allegedly invested in offshore companies managed by Indian citizens.

He said that the investments made in offshore companies had lost more than $18.2 million, but the losses were not transferred to Mr Khan despite his being a shareholder.

He repeated the sentence often used by Imran Khan regarding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: “Agar woh chor nahin hain toh talashi se kyon dartay hain” (If he’s not a thief, why is he afraid of a search?).

After giving details of offshore accounts and properties owned by PTI leaders Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan, he voiced suspicions that a particular lobby or power was supporting the party in their efforts to derail Pakistan from its current path of progress.

He said that the PTI had now resorted to discrediting the Election Commission of Pakistan and planned their siege of Islamabad on Nov 2, which is also the date of a hearing at the ECP.

“Nobody, including Imran Khan, should degrade national institutions — suppose his party comes to power next; what authority will he have over the government machinery then?” Mohammad Zubair asked, adding: “All that we see is that he is out to spread anarchy because decisions are not made on the streets.”

Responding to the presser, a PTI spokesperson’s statement decried the language used by the PML-N leaders.

The statement said that Imran Khan and Shaukat Khanum Foundation’s accounts were open to public scrutiny and added that their drive against the government’s financial malpractices was now in its final phase.

Published in Dawn October 20th, 2016