Media projecting baseless corruption stories: PM

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said that a section of media was projecting baseless and wrong corruption cases against him and the present government only to defame him.
He was talking to a private TV channel. “All these stories are cooked only to defame me,” the PM said. “I make a number of decisions daily but only three or four decisions are being projected in the media just to defame me,” Gilani said. He said, “Out of these decisions some are good, some are bad, as we are part of society.” The PM said, “It is against journalist ethics that old news is being publicized,” he said, adding that news means recent or fresh news. Gilani said that the media talked about the Adnan Khawaja case, adding that although the matter was subjudice but he wanted to explain it.
He said, “The media is giving popularity to Adnan Khawaja by projecting this case as I have not done anything wrong in this case.” The PM said, “Whenever a job was given by me, I ordered for an interview and when the interview of Adnan Khawaja was conducted everything had been asked by the officials who interviewed him and then he was appointed after getting answers for all the questions.” He said, “Therefore, I cannot be held responsible for giving him the job.” Gilani said that Adnan had already been working as chief executive for two or three years and it was just a transfer and posting, which was a routine matter. The PM said, “There is need to look into his first appointment and get the details of his qualification when he was recruited for the first time.” Regarding Khurram Rasool, he said, that he was a consultant for PTV and deputed for Northern Pakistan affairs and in a business since 2004 and it was before his becoming prime minister.
Gilani said that even the judiciary had given its remarks that two parties were doing business and if one was wrong then the other will also be wrong. The PM said it was a wrong perception in the media that media was a complainant regarding case of Khurram Rasool, adding, “I am the complainant against him and the media is wrongly projecting that I am responsible for any corruption done by Khurram Rasool, which is highest of stupidity.”
He said then another scandal was against his son that he bought a jeep from the Hajj scam. Gilani clarified, “My son brought the jeep in 2008 and the Hajj scam was in 2010, so he bought the jeep one year before the Hajj scam.” The PM said that when the complainant in the case, who was a PML-N MNA, was asked by court, he told that it was a hear-say. He said, “The court ordered to register a case against that sitting MNA of PML-N who levelled false allegations against my son and a case has been registered against him but we are being maligned.”
He said the media should be very judicious and when the CJP had given the remarks that do not defame who are respectable and registered a case who gave false statement, so media should be careful in reporting such cases. About his son MNA Ali Musa Gilani, the PM said he had nothing to do with politics before this election on the seat, which was vacated due to resignation of Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Gilani said his son never used his influence as his son.