Qatari prince’s ‘refusal’ to appear before JIT has put PML-N in dire straits: PTI

PTI spokesperson says govt wants to be dismissed by army; claims tables turned on the Sharif family

ISLAMABAD: PTI’s Secretary Information Shafqat Mahmood has claimed that the Qatari prince’s ‘categorical rejection’ to accept the joint investigation team’s (JIT) contention to apply jurisdiction of Pakistani laws and court on him has put the Sharif family in serious trouble.

“The prince has refused to appear before the court and the JIT, and has instead challenged jurisdiction of the court which means that [his] two suspicious letters submitted before the apex court [to establish money trail for Sharif’s properties] have become irrelevant,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

“How letters of a person can have credibility if he refuses to accept jurisdiction of any court?” he asked.

The PTI leader claimed that Sharifs had nothing besides those two letters to establish money trail for their foreign properties. “But they are criticising the JIT for not recording testimony of the prince,” he said, adding that their attempt to make the JIT controversial had failed.

He said there was no need to go and record statement of the Qatari prince as it was the Sharifs’ responsibility to make him appear before the JIT.

He also criticised the prince who, according to him, came to Pakistan for hunting houbara bustard but refused to appear before the JIT or a Pakistani court or even at Pakistan Embassy in Qatar. “He does not shy away when it comes to making profit from electricity projects in Pakistan,” he said of the prince.



Mahmood suggested that if the prince was afraid of appearing before the court or the JIT, he should send those documents relevant to the issue.

Separately, PTI’s spokesperson Fawad Chaudhary – responding to the ministers press conference – said the government changed its strategy after it had learnt that apparently the Qatari prince had refused to testify before the JIT.

“Now they are viewing everything as a conspiracy. However, the PML-N itself has been part and parcel of all conspiracies since its formation, including dismissal of governments,” Chaudhary said while speaking to media in Islamabad.

“We do not think there is any threat to the system. The only threat that we can perceive is the PM,” he said.

He said the government should have filed a review petition right after the Supreme Court announced the formation of the JIT in April this year. He said after the announcement of the SC’s verdict in Panamagate case, the PM and ministers had distributed sweets instead of filing such a petition.

“However, after completion of the JIT’s investigations, they are trying to create a controversy. Now, it seems the tables have turned on the Sharif family,” he said.

Chaudhary claimed that first the government planted a story against an intelligence agency through the Jang group and then the ministers attacked the intelligence agency.

He claimed that the government wanted to be ousted by the army. “They want the assemblies to be dissolved and early elections to be held. We are all set for elections but it is Sharif’s children who conspired against their parents.”

The spokesperson demanded that the process of accountability should not stop, adding that elements defending the Sharifs were foreseeing their own accountability. “We hope that the Supreme Court’s decision will be implemented. Their faces clearly show the result of the JIT,” he added.