Islamabad (Staff Report): Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in his 'much awaited' news conference has announced that he will resign from the ministry and MNA ship on the day when Supreme Court delivers Panamagate verdict.
“I will resign from the ministry and quit politics on the day the Supreme Court announces its verdict on Panamagate case, either it will in PM Nawaz Sharif’s favour or against him,” Nisar said on Thursday.
“This is the most difficult press conference I’ve ever hosted,” he said. “I’m sorry but I will not be able to take questions after this.”
“I want to clarify a lot of things because of rumours. I want to talk about the situation vis-a-vis the Panama case,” he said.
“People said I’d missed the train. I don’t just get on any train,” Nisar said and added, “I’ve been a victim of internal intrigues.”
“I had decided to step down from the party position a couple of days earlier,” Nisar confirmed.
“All my life, I’ve spoken the truth to Nawaz Sharif. There’s never been duplicity in my intentions. My role was the same as the whisperers who would tell Caesar: ‘Caesar you’re human’.”
“It pains me to say this, but when the PML-N faced its most difficult challenge, there was a conspiracy to remove me from the consultative process.”
The speculation of the minister’s resignation arose in the wake of the top court reserving its decision in the Panamagate case relating to Sharif family’s offshore wealth.
While discussing civil-military relations, Nisar said he had “never compromised on civilian supremacy” even though he had strong ties to the military.
“Ask any general if I’ve ever sought to sacrifice civilian rule for my personal political gains,” he said, in apparent reference to speculations and rumours that Nisar has always been ‘the army’s man’.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif held an important meeting with the Interior Minister.
On Wednesday, Shehbaz, along with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique held a meeting with Nisar which lasted several hours to 'reconcile differences'.
Following the meeting, a spokesperson for the ministry dismissed media reports stating that efforts were being made to placate Nisar or that he is upset with the party leadership.
The spokesperson said, "The truth is that the minister had adopted a differing position on some important matters in the PML-N's internal meetings, after which he was excluded from the consultative process."
He added that the interior minister is seeking an explanation for his exclusion and wants to know if the decision was made due to his opposing stance, or some other reason.
This is a developing story further details will be updated accordingly.
