You need courage to dissolve assemblies, Marriyum Aurangzeb tells Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Following PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s announcement of date to dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said ‘courage’ was required to dissolve assemblies and not dates, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the information minister accused Imran Khan “creating a ruckus” regarding the dissolution of assemblies so that “he can protect the theft he conducted during his tenure”.

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was creating this ruckus to divert the nation’s attention from prohibited funding case, cypher issue and Toshakhana case,” Marriyum Aurangzeb said.

She further said that the PTI chairman was mourning over his compromise on Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence, and economy by accepting ‘illegal’ foreign funding.

She maintained that Imran Khan will ‘never dissolve the assemblies because they provide a cover for his corruption’. “You [Imran] have protected your theft from the power of these assemblies,” she said, adding: “The corruption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will also come to light when the assemblies are dissolved.”

Marriyum Aurangzeb questioned why there was a need to wait till next week. “You should have dissolved the assemblies today,” the information minister said. “What are you waiting for?” she asked.

The information minister, while castigating Imran Khan, said that four years of PTI rule were example of inefficiency, incompetence and lies. “The PTI chief attacked Pakistan’s sovereignty to save his government,” she alleged, adding that now he wants to attack the economy of the country.

“Imran Khan stole valuable gifts from Toshakhana,” she said, adding that the former premier used his wife – Bushra Bibi – and Farah Gogi for this purpose. “His [Imran] wife stole jewelery from Toshakhana, this ruckus will never be subsided,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Imran Khan announced to dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies on December 23.

The former premier announced the decision while addressing the nation alongside the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief ministers (CM), Pervaiz Elahi and Mahmood Khan, respectively.

Imran Khan thanked the two provincial chiefs for their cooperation with his party, and said he had consulted PTI’s lawyers about the move, adding that the Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution.

Giving details of PTI’s plan of action, the PTI chief said that after dissolving the assemblies, the party would prepare for elections. “We will go to National Assembly and demand with NA speaker to accept our resignations instead of picking a few,” he added.

The former prime minister said that a “lesson should be taught through elections” to the government and deal it “such a defeat that the names of these thieves are wiped out forever”.