Summary Imran Khan questioned CM Punjab's eligibility for GE2013 in a tweet, Shahbaz Sharif responded on FB
LAHORE: (Web Desk) – Social media has been a warzone for all Pakistani political parties but the biggest feud has been between Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Leaders and supporters of the two parties have repeatedly engaged into fights with each other and the latest one was between Chairman PTI Imran Khan and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif when the former questioned the latter’s eligibility and the latter responded.
In a tweet, Chairman PTI Imran Khan said that Shahbaz Sharif has already admitted that he paid back his loans of Rs. 5.24 billion in December 2014 and thus, as the tweet implied, should not have been eligible for the 2013 elections.
Shahbaz Sharif admits he paid back loans in Dec 14 of Rs 5.24 b. How was a defaulter allowed to contest 2013 elections?
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 14, 2015
An official response to this tweet by CM Punjab’s lawyer Mustafa Ramday was posted on Shahbaz Sharif’s Facebook page. Alleging Imran Khan of tweeting it “not for want of knowledge but based on his malafides”, the lawyer said that his client believed it intended to “tarnish and lower his image on facts that are false and figment of his (Imran Khan s) imagination”.
The response by CM’s lawyer stated that an application was ‘jointly’ filed by Ittefaq Foundries and the banks in 1998 and the process of sale of the assets initiated consequently. However, the process got delayed “due to injunctions issued by the court that had no nexus with my client. The said process culminated in 2014 with M/s. Ittefaq Foundries Ltd. paying the entire monies claimed including costs of funds and mark-up for approximately 17 years with no waiver or discount”.
It also stated that attempts were made to get Shahbaz Sharif declared as defaulter as the guarantor of Ittefaq Foundries in 2002 and 2009 but were turned down by the Lahore High Court on the first occasion and a full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the second.
