Summary Opposition and other Pakistanis have equal rights to PTV as much as Sharif family, the PTI said.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – In a letter written to Imran Gardezi, the Secretary Information and Acting Managing Director of Pakistan Television Netowkr (PTV), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf demanded to make arrangements for Imran Khan’s address to nation on Sunday at 6 pm.
“To defend his case, the Prime Minister of Pakistan used the Pakistan Television on 5th of April to address the nation regarding the Panama Leaks and tried his best to explain his personal and his family’s position on the matter,” the letter states.
It further says: “You are well of the fact that the Pakistan Television Network, being the largest terrestrial television network of the country runs solely on tax-prayers money which makes PTV television network of each and every Pakistani citizen.”
“Unfortunately, since the panama leaks have come to the fore, the Prime Minister, the Information Minister and various MNA’s of the ruling PML-N have used PTV to spread disinformation amongst the masses regarding Shaukat Khanum Hospital. That tantamounts to using network for political/personal interest rather than state/government interest,” the party said.
“It is therefore the right of honorable Chairman PTI, Mr. Imran Khan to also address the masses via PTV’s network to respond to the baseless allegations on Shaukat Khanum and explain his position on the Panama Leaks,” it added.
Copy of PTI’s letter
Responding to PTI’s request, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said that only President and Prime Minister can address the nation through state television.
Imran Khan was given enough time in the National Assembly to speak on the matter, he added.
On April 5, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the nation by television to defend his family’s business practices, denying any wrongdoing and calling corruption claims "old accusations repeated over and over again".
Nawaz Sharif set up a commission to investigate allegations, based on leaked documents from Panama, that offshore companies headed by members of his family were avoiding paying taxes or disguising assets and their origins.
On Monday, leaked documents from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm showed that Sharif’s daughter Mariam and sons Hussain and Hassan owned at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. Mossack Fonseca denied any wrongdoing.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said these companies were involved in the purchase and mortgage of at least $13.8 million in UK properties.
One of the holding companies also purchased another, Liberia-based, holding company for $11.2 million in August 2007, according to the documents.
The documents do not show the source of the assets held by the holding companies. They are part of a tranche of 11.5 million documents leaked by the ICIJ, dubbed the ‘Panama Papers’.
Political opponents, notably Imran Khan, have accused Sharif’s family of having gained the funds illegally through corruption during his two previous stints as prime minister in the 1990s.
Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing, saying the assets were gained legally, mainly through the family’s network of businesses and industries in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
