Former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday responded to the Toshakana controversy and said the gifts given to him were his, and that it was his choice whether to keep them or not.
“Mera tohfa, meri marzi [my gift, my choice],” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman told reporters during an informal meeting.
The issue was brought up the previous week when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that Imran Khan had sold Toshakhana gifts in Dubai during his tenure said to be worth Rs140 million.
According to local media reports, Khan received 58 gifts in total worth more than Rs140 million from world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year term. He retained all of them by either paying a miniscule amount or even without any payment.
“I deposited a gift sent by a president at my residence. Whatever I took from Toshakana is on record. I purchased the gifts after paying 50 percent of the cost,” Khan said.
He said that the PTI government changed the policy of retaining gifts and increased the price from 15 percent to 50 percent.
