'Criminals looted country for 10 years in the name of charter of democracy'

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that his government will leave no stone unturned in its accountability drive and can even part ways with its coalition partners if they object upon the transparency of the process, ARY News reported.

In an interview with senior journalists at PM office, the premier said that rampant corruption by the “political elite” in the past harmed the country and burdened it with debt leaving for PTI to deal with the mess.

“Those who looted the country in the name of Charter of Democracy and are criminals,” said the PM without naming anyone or any party.

He maintained that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not function under the federal government “otherwise 50 big criminals would have been jailed by now”.

The premier, however, refused to name anyone when asked about who he considers among the “50 big criminals”.

He took credit for what he termed “not influencing the courts and the anti-graft authority” in case related to federal minister Azam Swati and former adviser Babar Awan.

‘Army stands with PTI government’

Answering a question, the PM said that Pakistan Army is standing with the PTI government and its manifesto on all matters.

“Supreme Court of Pakistan is working independently… Pakistan Army is standing with the PTI government. We opened the Kartarpur border and army was on our page, so we are on one page,” said Imran Khan.

He added that countries around the world take opinion of their respective military leadership over security issues and his government does the same.

When asked about Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remarks that the Kartarpur decision was his “googly”, he says it was only a decision aimed at facilitating the Sikh community.

‘No NRO’

About his claim that he was approached for an NRO, a euphemism for relief in accountability process, Imran Khan said that he too can improve ties with opposition parties by opting for such “re-conciliatory process”.

“A government has many powers and can do it (give NRO) but we believe in transparency,” said the PM.

Imran Khan said that opposition parties are raising all the hue and cry in the parliament and media for they want an NRO.

“All the cases before NAB and courts were registered in the past, but they (the opposition parties) are still calling me a dictator,” said Imran Khan.

About Rupee devaluation

When asked why he asked people “not to worry” about rupee devaluation, he explained that found out about last week’s through TV and the decision was taken by the State Bank, which is an “autonomous institution”.

Acknowledging that rupee devaluation created uncertainty, he revealed that “the past (PML-N_ govt had spent $7 billion to maintain the value of the rupee”.

He added that he has conveyed to SBP to keep government informed about such decisions.

“Our macroeconomic indicators positive and hopefully we will not face the issue in the future,” concluded the PM.

Here is the video of the full interview