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Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif slammed Imran Khan on Saturday, calling the former prime minister a “qualified thief”, a day after he was disqualified from hiding assets in the Toshakhana case.
Khan, 70, was disqualified by Pakistan’s Election Commission on Friday for failing to inform him of the money he received after the sale of state gifts, also known as the Toshakhana case.
Prime Minister Sharif told a news conference in Lahore that Khan had proven to be “a recognized liar and thief”.
However, he cautioned that this was not a moment of happiness, but a moment of “reflection”.
Referring to the gifts Khan bought from the state depository institution or Toshakhana at a discount and sold at a high profit, Sharif said he should auction the gifts and deposit the proceeds in the government treasury.
He said he had also received a letter from the Cabinet Department saying he could buy state gifts after paying a certain amount.
“I wrote back and said, ‘No thanks,’ and deposited [the gift] In Toshakhana,” he said.
Sharif said the state gifts were now on display at the Prime Minister’s Office to dispel the impression that they were missing.
He also accused Khan of violating local laws by building his Banigala house on the outskirts of Islamabad, which was later legalized when he took power.
Sharif also denied Khan’s allegations that the former prime minister and his brother Nawaz Sharif were involved in his disqualification ruling.
The Prime Minister also congratulated Pakistan on its exit from the Financial Action Task Force grey list.
“I congratulate the entire country from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division to store precious gifts from other governments and heads of state, as well as foreign dignitaries, to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials.
Khan was ousted in April following a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which he claimed was part of a US-led conspiracy against him over his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
The cricketer-turned-politician came to power in 2018 and is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament. PTI SH MRJ MRJ
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