Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday said party members are ready if the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is going to be used to pressurise the opposition.
Addressing a National Assembly session, Abbasi said, “Opposition Leader [Shehbaz Sharif] was arrested and till date a case could not be formed against him. Accountability institutions are being used to exert pressure on opposition parties."
“We are not against accountability but the way pressure is being exerted on opposition is against democracy and Parliament. Saad Rafique has said on the assembly floor that he is not related to the case,” the former premier asserted.
Abbasi continued, “Hamza Shehbaz is the opposition leader in Punjab Assembly and his name is not on the Exit Control List (ECL) yet the Federal Investigation Agency stopped him at the airport. Zulfi Bukhari’s name is on the ECL but the prime minister takes him along for Umrah and nobody asks about it.”
“The country has failed the ministers but the prime minister has passed them,” he added.
“Today, NAB members are levelling allegations against opposition members. If media trials are held today then where will we get justice tomorrow?” Abbasi asked.
The PML-N leader further said, “The prime minister’s helicopter case is in NAB and if the opposition leader can be arrested then the leader of the House can also be arrested in the case. There is a case against Punjab Assembly speaker, arrest him too. There is a Malam Jabba case against the defence minister and he should be arrested as well.”
“An accountability bureau of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was set up and billions were spent but there was no one to ask. There was a court order against Jahangir Tareen but he is also roaming free,” the former premier said.
