PM Imran would neither resign nor seek 'safe' exit, says SAPM Shahbaz Gill

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill on Thursday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had not made any offers to resign from his position and would instead face the opposition "with all his might till the last ball".

At a media talk in Islamabad, Gill said that the premier had neither made any offers to the opposition nor reached out to them for any "safe options".

Gill's comments came after PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, speaking to the media earlier in the day, said that the prime minister would not be given the options of a "safe passage, an NRO, amnesty or backdoor exit".

"And I advise you that you opt for an honourable exit ... which means that you resign today and let the vote of no confidence take place," Bilawal had added.

SAPM Gill, in his press talk today, said that PM Imran's fight was against "an imperialist, and not the three dwarves".

"It's against the imperialist who killed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto because he wanted to make an independent foreign policy. These stooges don't matter to him," the SAPM said, adding that the premier wasn't the one to give up and "will face everything that comes his way".

'All my assets are declared'

Meanwhile, in response to a report published in The News on Thursday morning, Gill said that all his assets were declared.

The report stated that the SAPM was still on the payroll of an American public university and alleged that he had not declared his salary and employment in the list of assets submitted to the Cabinet Division.

"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where Special Assistant to Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Shabbir (Gill) is employed as Clinical Assistant Professor has confirmed to The News in a written reply that he is still a university employee and his annual salary is $124,770.92," the news report read.

"Mr Gill, according to the university’s official reply, is teaching Management and Organizational Behavior, Principles of Marketing, and Principles of Retailing."

According to the prime minister's instructions, all of his special assistant and advisers are bound to declare their assets and liabilities with the Cabinet Division through a prescribed declaration form.

Gill, during the media talk, called the report "fake". He contended that there were just two sections in the Cabinet Division paper — one of liabilities and another of assets.

"It doesn't ask for income and the source of income," he said. "But there's an FBR office that inquires about [a person's] annual income and its source. To them, everything has been told ... all my assets are declared, "Gill said.

He added that he had been a professor for 20 years and would continue to work in that capacity.