No deal or relaxation for Nawaz: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Thursday said neither the government would let Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz leave the country nor would it allow Ishaq Dar, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz to stay abroad for much longer and the Sharif family will have to return the people’s money.

Reacting to the Islamabad High Court’s decision during a press conference here, he said Nawaz would keep on coming and going to jail.

Dispelling the impression that Nawaz was released on the demand of some foreign country, Fawad said, “No country asked for his release. Nawaz is not such an important figure that Saudi Arabia would speak for him.”

“Those who are saying that there has been a deal on Nawaz are ignorant about relations between Riyadh and Nawaz. How can the Crown Prince ask that a corrupt politician in Pakistan should be set free?” he asked.

Fawad said Nawaz had only been granted bail and the case against him had not ended yet.

“The first thing I would like to do is to address those people who kept asking why we put the Sharif family’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL). I guess now they have the idea why we did it. Had we not done so, they could have come out yesterday and flown to London in the evening. Where would we have looked for them?” he argued.

He also took this opportunity to note that the PML-N and its supporters had praised the judicial system yesterday.

“So, if the verdict is in their favour, all is well with the judiciary and if it is against them then the system is corrupt. The PML-N should decide first what their stance is so that their own confusion ends,” he remarked.

The minister emphasised that the judiciary was free and independent, denying that there was any deal behind the release of Nawaz Sharif.

He reiterated that the courts were fully free and independent.

“The question is there are two systems in the country: one for petty criminals and the other for big looters. This should be changed,” he maintained.

The minister also made it clear that Prime Minister Imran Khan nursed no personal grudge against Nawaz and his daughter Maryam and emphasised that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was an independent institution and the government did not control it.

He, however, pointed out that they were looking into flaws in the NAB prosecution, which would be duly addressed.

The minister asserted that Nawaz would be taken to the place where he was a few days back.

He said the government’s sole objective was to bring back the masses’ looted wealth kept abroad.

There would no deal with or relaxation (of rules) for Nawaz, he said.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant Shahzad Akbar had tasked with bringing back the looted money.

About the recent hike in gas tariff, Fawad said there had been a minor hike for the common man who would now pay Rs272 against previous Rs252.

He said Finance Minister Asad Umar wanted to give relief to the masses but he would not continue with subsidies for the rich and the poor alike, which was the policy previously.

Replying to a question about the much-talked about appointment of Zulfi Bokhari as special assistant to the prime minister, the minister strongly defended it and said the dual nationality law did not apply to the slot of special assistant.

He explained that the law did not even bar a foreign national to become a special assistant.

Justifying the appointment, he said Bokhari was Imran’s ‘right hand’ even before the sit-in and had played a crucial role in all important party activities.

He said Bokhari had also been the in charge of Imran’s election campaign. “He is an integral part of the PTI and the face of the party,” Fawad remarked.