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ISLAMABAD: Ex-prime minister Imran Khan on Monday responded to the Toshakana controversy and said they were his gifts, so it was his choice whether to keep them or not.
“Mera tohfa, meri marzi [my gift, my choice],” the PTI chairman, who became the first prime minister to be ousted through the no-trust vote, told reporters during an informal conversation.
The issue came to light last week when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Imran Khan, during his tenure, sold Toshakhana gifts in Dubai worth Rs140 million.
According to reports, the former premier received 58 gifts worth more than Rs140 million from the world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment.
“I deposited a gift sent by a president at my residence. Whatever I took from Toshakana is on record. I purchased the gifts after paying 50% of the cost,” Khan said.
He said that the PTI government changed the policy of retaining gits and increased the price from 15% to 50%.
“Had I wanted to make money, I would have declared my house as a camp office but I did not,” he added.
Establishment’s role in CEC’s appointment; Farah Khan controversy
Moving on, the former prime minister said the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Raja Sultan was appointed after the establishment suggested his name.
The PTI chairman said a deadlock emerged between the then-Opposition and the then-government on the appointment of the chief election commissioner.
In light of the situation, the establishment suggested Sultan’s name, he said, adding that the CEC should be appointed through an independent body.
Regarding the Farah Khan controversy — who has been blamed for hoarding and is a close friend of Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi — he said that Farah was not an officeholder nor was she a minister. “How could she have taken money for appointments?”
