Islamabad (Staff Report): Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry has said that a disqualification reference will be filed against former president Asif Ali Zardari for concealing his property.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Fawad Chaudhry said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has directed its Sindh lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman to file a reference against Zardari for not mentioning his foreign assets in the nomination papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The information minister claimed that Asif Ali Zardai owns an apartment in the United States.
“The PPP leader was required to declare that property under Articles 62 and 63, which he didn’t. He is therefore not eligible to be a lawmaker,” Fawad said.
The minister said that the investigation against Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) leaders including Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja Saad Rafique and leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) began during the tenure of the previous government whereas the PTI government has only given a free hand to the investigators.
"They didn't let the institutions initiate transparent inquiries. We promised to our voters that we will bring corruption-free political structure," the minister said.
Fawad Chaudhry said that the PTI lawmakers are not facing probes because they weren't in charge of the federal government before.
He claimed that Pakistan's ranking on travel advisories issued by countries like Portugal and France had improved.
“Pakistan's national image is improving abroad due to the investigations by NAB as it is resulting in more foreign direct investments”, the information minister said.
Chaudhry said that the country will receive the biggest investment of its history in the coming days, adding that multinational companies are now interested to invest in the country.
He said that the policies of the PTI government were based on "compassion".
Referring to the repatriation of Indian spy, Fawad said that Hamid Nehal Ansari’s return was an example of the government's compassion.
The information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked the Indian journalists, who had visited Pakistan to attend the Kartarpur border crossing ceremony, to urge their government to put an end to offences committed by state forces against Kashmiri people in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
