LAHORE: A visibly angered Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday threatened to take former prime minister Imran Khan to court.

“I am taking you to court where you have to prove that I am involved in corruption,” he told Khan.

Addressing a press conference, he said: “I am on record claiming that during my five-year tenure, I oversaw Rs3,200 billion development expenditure. If someone proves even 32 paisa corruption in it, I will accept any punishment. But if not, Imran (Khan) should get ready for consequences.”

“Imran Khan, who presents himself as Mr Clean, is in fact Mr Corrupt. It is him who gave Rs50 billion, laundered and corrupt money traced by the UK National Crime Agency (NCA), to a developer in exchange of some gold and diamond sets. This money, which belonged to the state of Pakistan, was given to an individual through the cabinet decision, which was kept secret even from ministers and they signed the dotted lines.

“Imran Khan is an egotist hatemonger who is spreading lies and misleading people through social media. His playwright is (Adolf) Hitler who acted exactly the same way and left behind a devastated Germany; Imran Khan would not prove any different,” the minister blasted.

Taking exception to the Election Commission, Iqbal wondered why it was delaying decision on the foreign funding case. “Has the commission been scared into inaction in the case? If so, it is going to a very bad example: it would open the way for everyone to threaten it into silence. It should announce decision immediately. With so many documentary evidences, what is the commission waiting for.

“It is not only evidence which proves the case against Imran Khan, but his behaviour as well. When all proofs reached the commission, Imran Khan asked it to move to in-camera hearing. Why would a clean man do so, especially who has been demanding open trial in all other cases against him? He has been shouting from the rooftop to demand money trail of others, but wants to hide his own money trail. All these evidences and his behaviour make it an open and shut case. Why has Election Commission been sitting on it?”

Iqbal conceded that economic decisions taken by his (PML-N) government hurt it politically and caused an embarrassing defeat in the recent by-elections. “Yes, we knew these decisions were going to reduce party’s political capital and they have. But, one must not forget who put us into economic straitjacket? It was Imran Khan; let his ministers (Shaukat Tareen or Hafiz Sheikh) deny that it were them who finalised deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which forced the PML-N to take those hard decisions. The exchequer has no fiscal space for any kind of subsidy and the entire international price hike is being shifted to the people of Pakistan. They are causing economic pain and the government is aware of it, but helpless.”

“The PML-N, as a party, is trying to control the genie at a greater political cost. But this economic altruism is necessary for the sake of country and ending political and economic uncertainty. Imran Khan and his supporters in institutions are trying to spread political uncertainty. Some decisions in the recent past had added fuel to this fire and created speculative economy. The increasing imbalance between rupee and dollar is directly linked to those decisions. This kind of national disservice must end forthwith,” he demanded.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2022