Imran Khan kept official vehicle: claim

MARRIYUM Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s information minister, has claimed that Imran Khan took a BMW X5 on his way out as the country’s premier. That, she said, was a car from the prime minister’s office pool for foreign delegations.

Aurangzeb said a prime minister could keep cars in their use only according to the law, Dawn news reported.

The minister said Khan insisted he wanted to keep the car, although he had earlier criticised previous governments over expensive cars in the Prime Minister’s House.

She said the price of the car, when purchased in 2016, was 30 million Pakistani rupees (about R2.5m) and it was now valued at 60mn PKR. If the bomb-proofing and bullet-proofing were factored in, the vehicle would cost around 150m PKR.

Aurangzeb said Khan was the only prime minister who sold gifts from foreign nations in their own countries.

She said in one incident, instead of declaring and submitting a handgun that was given as a gift by another country’s diplomat into the Toshakhana, Khan allegedly smuggled the gun into Pakistan and kept it. A Toshkhana is a treasure house wherein gifts received as honour are kept.

“You are a thief, a cheat, a liar and a swindler but trying to pose as a pious person only to hide the wrongdoings and corruption,” said Aurangzeb.

On Monday, Khan accused the Joe Biden administration of being involved in a regime change conspiracy in Pakistan, Geo News reported.

He repeatedly blamed the US for backing the no-confidence motion that lead to his ousting on April 10. Khan has refused to accept the newly-elected premier Shehbaz Sharif, saying “there can’t be any bigger insult to this country”.

But the Joe Biden administration denied any role in the process.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Pakistan with around $8 billion (about R125bn) to help revive the country's economy. The package includes doubling the oil financing facility, and additional money either through deposits or Sukuks. A sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance, that complies with Islamic religious law commonly known as Sharia.

“However, technical details are being worked out and will take a couple of weeks to get all documents ready and signed,” said sources.

Sharif and his official entourage have left Saudi Arabia but Miftah Ismail, the Minister for Finance, is still there to finalise the details of the increased financial package. |