Asad Umar says the audio has been cut, pasted, and edited.
Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin’s telephonic conversation with Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari was leaked last night.
In the leaked audio, Shaukat Tarin has allegedly asked Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari to withdraw from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) deal.
Tarin allegedly told the provincial finance minister that a “commitment of Rs. 750 billion was given to the IMF which you all have signed, now you have to say that the commitment given was before the flood situation which has crippled the country including Punjab.”
In one of the audio clips, Tarin is allegedly guiding Mohsin Leghari to tell the federal government and the IMF that he would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in light of the recent floods the country is facing.
“We only wanted the provincial finance minister to write to the federal government so pressure falls on these b*** … they’re jailing us, filing terrorism charges against us and they’re going away completely scot-free. We can’t allow this to happen,” Shaukat Tarin can be heard telling Leghari.
Tarin also adds “they mistreat us and we stand on one side and they blackmail us in the name of the state and ask for help and we keep helping them.”
In the other audio, Tarin can be heard asking Jhagra whether he had drawn up a similar letter.
“[The IMF commitment] is a blackmailing tactic and no one will release money anyway. I won’t release them, I don’t know about Leghari,” says Jhagra allegedly.
Tarin says the letter, once drafted, would also be sent to the IMF representative so “these b*** know that the money they were forcing us into giving will be kept by us”.
Secretary General Asad Umar defended the leaked conversation in a press conference saying that in an attempt to “make the people aware of the facts,” the government was guilty of “cutting, pasting and editing” the leaked audio.
He also said that there was “nothing wrong” with Tarin “advising” the ministers as he “understands the country’s economy” and that the request was in fact “needed” considering the current havoc that floods have wreaked in the country.
