PPP leader calls for accountability ahead of elections

MARDAN: Former federal minister and senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Nawabzada Khwaja Muhammad Hoti has stressed the need for comprehensive accountability before the upcoming general elections.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, he said: “Political parties, judiciary, bureaucracy, business figures, and all sectors should face accountability before the general elections.”

He said that ordinary citizens endured the burden of inflation while the elite class enjoyed a life of luxury. Khwaja Hoti lamented that the absence of accountability before the 2013 general elections led to the ongoing crises in the country.

He said that a mere 5 percent of the elite class from various political parties ruled the country. He argued that corrupt people should not be allowed to re-enter the corridors of power, which is possible only through a clean and transparent political arena.

He said that he had several files of corruption against the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, and he expressed his willingness to hand

over the files to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) if an unbiased investigation was to be conducted. He argued that ANP leaders claim that they did not commit corruption and they are clear but he has several files of corruption of the ANP government.

In reference to ANP leaders’ claims of innocence, Khwaja Hoti asserted that he possessed evidence of corruption during the ANP government’s tenure, and he reminded the public of the issues they faced during that time such as the “easy load” slogans. He stated that Pakistan was having aristocracy, instead of democracy.

He called for an end to the politics of inheritance in Pakistan and claimed he had resigned from the ministry in 2009 due to alleged corruption within the then ANP government.