Instead of protests: Imran should wait for SC verdict on Panamagate, says Muqam

PM’s adviser says top court will decide who stole national resources

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister’s Adviser Ameer Muqam on Saturday urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan to wait for the top court’s verdict on Panamagate instead of agitating or locking down Islamabad.

“The Supreme Court will soon decide who stole national resources and who embezzled public funds,” he said while addressing a gathering in Peshawar to mark the 35th anniversary of Abdul Qayyum Khan, founder of the Pakistan Muslim League in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“The people of K-P provided an opportunity to the PTI-led government in the province to demonstrate their performance, but its chief minister and ministers have been found guilty of corruption,” Muqam asserted.

He said one K-P minister had even accused Chief Minister Pervez Khattak of involvement in illegal mining and illegal appointments.

Calling the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a source of development, Muqam said the ruling PML-N had made phenomenal progress, “but some opposition leaders, especially from PTI, are just politicising non-issues.”

Requesting K-P residents to not take part in agitation against any CPEC project, he said: “The PML-N led government is being blamed for taking loans for development projects, but the Khattak-led government itself signed a treaty with international donors for the Swat Expressway and a number of power projects in the province.

How can Imran Khan and his team explain why they couldn’t avoid taking loans for such projects?”

Muqam added that “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the engine of development, while Imran Khan is the source of destruction.”

Appreciating Pakistan Peoples Party for playing the role of real opposition, he said Imran and his fellow PTI lawmakers should resign from the national and provincial assemblies, instead of staging protests.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2016.