ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry asserted Monday that the recusing of Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer from representing him in the NAB corruption references was an attempt to delay the corruption cases.
Speaking to journalists here, Fawad suggested that a government lawyer should take the cases forward. He cautioned against what he called any ‘relaxation’ (dheel) or deal with regards to the corruption references against the Sharifs.
“Both brothers are getting entangled in marsh as much as they are struggling to get out of it,” he said while referring to Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif.
Referring to Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris, he charged that the lawyer knew that his clients were bound to be convicted in corruption; that was why he was expressing his inability to further pursue the cases. He pointed out that the matter was quite straight that the court was asking Sharifs as to how they managed to have Rs300 billion in their 16 accounts and from where they got this amount.
Fawad said the Supreme Court proceedings continued for 134 days and then the judgement in Panama papers case came and then a direction was given for decision in the matter in six months, but now over nine months had been consumed.
“Maryam Nawaz had said that what to talk in London, she did not possess property even in Pakistan and then conceded to have it in London. Nawaz first declared in the National Assembly that they had sources of how they purchased London property and then he also said to have purchased property by settling their Dubai mills and afterwards maintained in the court that an Arab Sheikh had given them money,” Fawad noted.
Mounting attack on Shahbaz, he said the former CM announced that they should not be blamed if electricity crisis re-occurred after the completion of their term. Fawad wondered, “Was the electricity biryani, which they took along while going home and anything else, they took along in a briefcase.”
He pointed out that the PTI Chairman Imran Khan wrote to caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk to point out who was to be blamed (the caretakers or the PML-N government) for the energy crisis and they awaited his briefing in this connection. Fawad said Imran had given a call for token protest at district headquarters and before press clubs over excessive power cuts.
About the distribution of party tickets in connection with the general elections, he noted that there was no issue regarding 90 percent tickets. He also brushed aside the impression that old party activists had been overlooked and explained that out of 178 tickets, 104 went to such party workers; 22 to those, who joined PTI from PML-N, 18 to former PPP politicians and 30-35 to independents. No party ever, he claimed, had fielded such strong panel in elections.