After much ado on the ‘35 punctures’ claim by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), the party’s key leader Arif Alvi has tendered an apology admitting the remarks were based on rumours and hearsay.
Alvi took to social media on Thursday to refute and withdraw the statement and oft-quoted by the PTI chairman. And while Imran himself didn’t apologise in explicit terms, he did admit on Wednesday that the remarks made were ‘of a political nature.’
“We should have checked the facts before making such an accusation,” he said adding “We should not have believed on false accusations,” said Alvi.
The move was welcomed by Najam Sethi, then Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, who Khan directly accused of the wrongdoing.
On May 12, 2014, Khan strongly criticised Sethi for his alleged role in rigging the 2013 general elections.
“Next time the caretaker chief minister should not be like the one who mended 35 punctures,” he said repeating his allegations that Sethi had helped the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz rig the elections misusing his position as the Punjab chief minister.
Imran said the PML-N after coming to power rewarded Sethi by making him chairman of the PCB. He demanded parliament introduce legislation to bar every member of an interim setup from assuming any government office for two years after serving as caretaker.
