ISLAMABAD: After being criticised by all and sundry over his demand for inclusion of Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence men in the judicial probe of alleged rigging in 2013 election by PTI chief Imran Khan, the beleaguered PTI now claims that the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has offered Imran Khan the inclusion of ISI and MI men in the probe.

One of the key leaders of PTI, Abrar ul Haq who defends PTI on all news channels, while appearing on a private TV channel on November 11 said that COAS General Raheel Sharif had offered PTI Chairman Imran Khan to include ISI and MI in the probe so that the investigations are free and fair. Contrary to Abrar ul Haq’s public claim, the PTI chief Imran Khan and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi have been saying that the demand was government’s proposal.

In a talk show on Tuesday Abrar ul Haq said that when Imran Khan met the military leadership during the dharna, the COAS offered him that ISI and MI may be included in the team investigating the rigging allegations so that the investigations are free and fair.

He explained that actually Khan demanded for joint investigation team to be formed under the judicial commission to probe poll rigging. He said that ISI and MI are de-politicized whereas Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency are politicized. “When the offer came from the COAS then what is the harm in making the demand”, said the PTI leader.

He added that in the past too, the services of ISI and MI have benefited the country and their expertise can be utilised in probing election rigging. Abrar was of the view that there must be legislation over the issue of free and fair elections and if there is any deadlock, it must be resolved through legislation and PTI’s dharna is an effort to pressure the government to go for such legislation.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called Imran Khan’s demand for including ISI and MI officials

in the judicial commission as ‘strange.’ PTI information secretary Shireen Mazari in a statement said that her party was ready for talks with the government, adding that inclusion of ISI and MI in the investigation of rigging was the government proposal. She said the government is playing a political game and doesn’t want to probe poll rigging.



