ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday admitted that Prime Minister Imran Khan was disappointed with the performance of former adviser on accountability and interior Shahzad Akbar, who abruptly stepped down from the post.
Speaking to a private media outlet, Sheikh Rashid asserted that Akbar’s failure to bring back former premier Nawaz Sharif from London was not only the reason for his departure from the federal cabinet.
“He could not recover plundered wealth. Only PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif is facing a money laundering case of worth Rs16 billion but we could not even recover that amount,” the minister added.
The federal minister further said PM Imran was adamant about eradicating grafts from the country and sacked many members from his party and the government’s positions over corruption allegations.
“People voted for Imran Khan to hold the corrupt and plunderers accountable,” he said, but admitted that due to some “weaknesses” the PTI could not fulfil its promise.
The minister pointed out that the government was making efforts to sign extradition treaties with other countries, especially the UK to bring back those wanted by courts and other criminals.
The minister admitted that the government granted Nawaz Sharif rare permission to fly abroad in 2019. “We sent Nawaz Sharif ourselves, it is our fault. They managed to throw dust in everyone’s eyes and escaped,” he remarked.
On Wednesday, PM Imran claimed that he had already fulfilled his pre-election promise of eradicating corruption from the country in 90 days within the stipulated time after coming into power.
A day after Pakistan slipped down on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2021, Premier Imran said that no scandal of financial corruption emerged during the incumbent government’s tenure, whereas scandals like Panama Papers surfaced during previous government’s rule.
