KARACHI: Sheikh Rasheed claimed on Saturday that he would have stopped the divorce between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith had he been friends with Imran when the couple were together.
Speaking at a private TV channel show, the veteran politician said that he was impressed by how Jemima stood by Imran in his ongoing court cases.
He was referring to PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi’s plea seeking Imran’s qualification from the National Assembly (NA) over misappropriation of funds regarding the purchase of his Bani Gala estate in Islamabad. The Supreme Court reserved its verdict in the case last week.
“I am impressed by Jemima. She has fought the case against Imran brilliantly,” he told the news anchor.
When Imran was apparently struggling to satisfy the apex court, Jemima said that she had succeeded in tracking down documents to provide a money trail for the purchase of the Bani Gala estate.
The couple had divorced in 2004, ending nine years of marriage. Rasheed, then a member of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam was highly critical of Imran who only had one seat in the 272-member NA.
Answering a question regarding former first daughter Maryam Nawaz’s political career, Rasheed said Maryam had a significant role in Nawaz’s downfall. “Maryam has led Nawaz Sharif towards destruction and God knows where else will she take him now,” he added.
Sheikh Rasheed predicted that serious cases against top political leaders will surface in the near future, leading to a kick-march before March 2018.
Commenting on the Islamabad sit-in by religious protesters, he said that an amendment in sections related to finality of Prophethood was out of the question. “The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government knowingly struck the chord of conflict. It is due to their mischief that the protest erupted,” he claimed.
In an apparent reference to Ishaq Dat, he said sarcastically remarked that a medical facility be opened at NAB headquarters as almost everyone facing accountability has fallen sick. “Whenever someone gets indicted, they fake a cardiac arrest,” he said and added, “I demand from Justice Javed Iqbal to open a medical facility at NAB provincial headquarters so that the ill can be treated there.”
Sheikh Rasheed further predicted that the polls will not be held on time. “Owing to the drama of delimitation of constituencies staged by the PML-N government, I don’t see elections in 2018,” he said and added that he, however, doesn’t see a government of technocrats either.
