PML-N, PPP ask Imran to name ‘neutrals’

The coalition government on Friday asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to name the “neutrals” who gave him guarantees over Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja’s appointment.

“We demand of you to name the neutrals,” PML-N’s Malik Ahmed Khan and PPP’s Saeed Ghani said at separate news conferences.

The PML-N and PPP leaders’ statements come in response to claims made by former prime minister Imran during an interview with Express News earlier this week. Imran had claimed that it was the neutrals – a reference to describe the military establishment – who suggested Raja’s name as the CEC.

Imran had said that according to the 18th Amendment, heads of the National Accountability Bureau, ECP and caretaker governments were supposed to be decided amicably by all political parties.

“At the time of the CEC’s appointment, there was a deadlock [among the parties]. So, the neutrals approached us and said that the country needed to move forward. They suggested Sikandar Sultan’s name. I didn’t even know him back then. But people told us that he was the PML-N’s man. However, when I told the neutrals about this, they guaranteed that the CEC would stay neutral.”

PML-N’s Malik challenged Imran to name the neutrals, saying: “Show some spine and tell us the names of neutrals who gave you this guarantee.”

Malik said, “Did Gen Qamar say this to you? And if yes, please have some audacity … have some courage … say it. If Gen Faiz Hameed said this, please take his name and say it.”

Malik asked Imran, “where did the neutrals come in? If you, or any member of your party, has the courage, come forward and name them. Also, tell us who do you call neutral – is it the army chief or the DG ISI or the institution”?

The PML-N leader asked the PTI chief to authenticate his comments in public “otherwise people will think that he is trying to demean the institution.

Separately, addressing a news conference in Karachi, Sindh Minister Ghani said it’s odd that Imran himself appointed the CEC and then blamed the “neutrals” for it.

“Who from the neutrals said it? Give us a name,” he said, adding that it would be more fun when Imran takes a name. “Just ask him.”

The PPP leader further claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s verdict in the prohibited funding case against the PTI had confirmed that Imran was “backed by people” whose interests were against the country’s.

On Tuesday, the ECP ruled that the PTI had “willfully” and “knowingly” received prohibited funding from a number of foreign donors.