Tension mounts between parties
Imran rebuts allegations made by Khwaja Asif
Tension between two major opposition parties mounted yesterday as Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement) Chairman Imran Khan said he would sue a central leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Khwaja Asif, for accusing him of misappropriating a charity cancer hospital’s money.
Addressing a news conference, the cricketer-turned politician rebutted point-bypoint allegations made by Asif last week against the PTI leader regarding the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital built by him in Lahore with donations from people inside the country and overseas Pakistanis.
Imran Khan said he would also file a lawsuit against another key PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for hurling “baseless allegations” against him.
He said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was behind the “vilification campaign” and challenged the former prime minister to an open debate with him over a series of questions he had put to him recently about the assets of the Sharif family within and outside Pakistan.
The PTI chairman said Nawaz Sharif should himself step forward to respond to the challenge instead of using his “minions” for frivolous propaganda, which he said could damage the hospital providing free treatment to 75 per cent of patients with an annual expenditure of Rs2 billion (Dh70 million).
He appealed to Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to ensure the case, when initiated, is taken up urgently and decided speedily to save the country’s biggest cancer hospital from being maligned by the party for its political ends.
Khan said contributions in dollars to a trust fund set up outside the country for the hospital were invested by its managers in real estate in the Middle East and he had been assured by them that no loss would be incurred as a result.
However, the PTI leader said, he had pledged his house as collateral to pay for any loss from the investments, which Asif had called a “gamble by Imran using hospital funds.”
In a rejoinder, Khwaja Asif said he accepts the challenge of Khan and will be waiting for his legal notice. The PMLN leader has said that he has full confidence in the judiciary and will make more disclosures.
The war of accusations between the two parties is seen as being linked to the general elections now only months away and is expected to intensify as the polls draw closer, with the PML-N and PTI poised for a tough electoral battle in Punjab, home to 60 per cent of the country’s 180 million people. The province is currently ruled by the PML-N.