ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday filed a reference seeking disqualification of former prime minister Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani for allegedly violating Toshakhana rules during his time in the office.

The reference was filed in the Senate secretariat by PTI’s Senator Azam Khan Swati, along with other party leaders. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani was also present on the occasion.

According to the reference, as the prime minister, Mr Gilani relaxed the rules to allow former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif take home luxury vehicles after depositing a negligible amount in the exchequer.

“Today, a big reference has been submitted to the Senate,” Mr Swati later told the media.

PTI files reference in Senate secretariat; Gilani says will go home if disqualified

“Yousaf Raza Gilani, as prime minister, had violated the laws of Toshakhana and gave three vehicles to former president Asif Ali Zardari and one to Nawaz Sharif,” he added.

He said this was done in violation of the Toshakhana rules and hoped the Senate chairman would soon forward the reference to the election commission.

Mr Swati claimed that Mr Zardari paid 15 per cent of the total amount for the three vehicles, including two BMW and one Toyota Lexus. These were among the six bulletproof vehicles under his use, he added.

The Mercedes car taken by Mr Sharif was given to him by the Saudi government in 1997 when he was the prime minister and in 2008, then Mr Gilani allowed him to buy it for just Rs600,000, Mr Swati claimed.

“We will prove that Mr Gilani had misused his powers while he was prime minister. He has violated the Constitution and he can no longer continue as a Senate member,” he said.

Tosha­khana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division where precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries are stored.

In a separate development, Mr Gilani has called these accusations “character assassination” and said those accusing him of violating Toshakhana rules should go and check if the necklace was there or not.

Addressing a press conference in Multan on Tuesday, he said he would accept the court’s decision in the case and would not comment on it further at this moment as the matter was sub judice.

“I will not cry like Imran Khan if the courts disqualifies me in the case,” he said.

He also reiterated that general elections will be held on time and the PML-N-led coalition government will not accept the unconstitutional demand of the PTI to hold early elections.

On the cipher controversy, Mr Gilani said the PTI-led government should have investigated the issue when it was in power.

The matter was also discussed in the National Security Committee meeting and it did not find any foreign conspiracy in it, he said.

Answering a question about the upcoming PTI’s long march, Mr Gilani added that when the PPP took out a long march during Mr Khan’s government, his two sons and other party workers were arrested by the police.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will decide whether to allow the long march or not.

Referring to the by-election in Multan where his son Ali Musa Gilani is a candidate, Mr Gilani said the PPP workers were campaigning for his son and he will win the NA-157 by-election with a heavy mandate.

Mr Gilani also censured his rival politician from Multan, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and said he was causing divisions in his own party.

Criticising Mr Khan, he said the PTI chairman had been holding rallies and protests at a time when floods have ravaged the country.

Imran Gabol in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2022