MULTAN: The investigation into the Panama Papers case appe­ars to be a ploy devised to disqualify and oust the prime minister from power rather than to hold him accountable, veteran politician Javed Hashmi said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“A number of issues have emerged in recent days and doubts are being expressed regarding the credibility of the joint investigation team (JIT). If the JIT becomes controversial, people will not accept its findings and Nawaz Sharif will emerge as a victim,” the former MNA said, adding that judges, too, should choose their remarks carefully. They should not call someone a godfather or compare them to the Sicilian mafia, he said.

Certain state institutions and the bureaucracy had harmed the country in the past, and the Supreme Court had even protected dictators, Mr Hashmi said. “Justice Nasim Hasan Shah had said that they were under pressure to award Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the death penalty. What will the nation repose confidence in if it loses faith in the courts?” Mr Hashmi said there had been rumours within the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) that former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani had been offered the post of president of Pakistan but he had turned down the offer. “Imran Khan had commented several times that he (Mr Jilani) was not an ‘appropriate’ judge, but the judge who will replace him is ours. The court should summon me for committing contempt of court and I will explain [the matter] there,” he said.

Former PTI leader demands across-the-board accountability

The former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart claimed that the incumbent PML-N government had victimised his family constantly for the last three years. “My properties were bulldozed; my family members were implicated in false cases lodged under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Even my cousins who were dead were implicated in cases...this was not done without the will of the chief minister,” he said.

The veteran politician said neither the PTI nor the PML-N was happy with him, nor was he looking to curry favour with either of them. “I do not need the tickets of any party to contest elections and I am not interested in joining the PML-N. My future is linked to Pakistan and the masses... My struggle is focused on the middle class,” he said.

Mr Hashmi claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had never been pleased about awarding him a party ticket. Yet the people elected him 11 times, he said.

He claimed that Mr Sharif had not tried to stop former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf from leaving the country because he was told not to lay hands on the dictator if he valued his own safety. He further said that the National Accountability Bureau had lost its validity, and suggested that new accountability laws be introduced instead.

“A fact-finding commission should be constituted to look into the conspiracy behind the [PTI’s] 2014 sit-in...And former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, Imran Khan and I should appear before it,” he said.

He alleged that PTI chairman Imran Khan had sold a party ticket to a “patwari” for Rs200 million. He further claimed that the PTI chief had lost charity money, collected for Shaukat Khanum Hospital, in a failed investment in Thailand.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2017