Nawaz will have to accept verdict: Siraj

QUETTA: JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq on Sunday said Nawaz Sharif would have to accept the Supreme Court verdict, as no one was above the law and everyone – including politicians, judges and generals – must be held accountable.

He said Nawaz should have accepted the verdict but he chose to stage a march on the GT Road, proving the elitist politicians did not respect the judiciary. “It is better to go home than to jail on corruption charges,” Siraj added.

Talking to journalists at the Quetta Press Clubs, Siraj said the Sharif family’s refusal to appear before the accountability court had set a negative precedent as it encouraged the ordinary citizen to disrespect courts.

The JI chief said his party had launched an anti-corruption drive 16 months ago and wanted to hold all corrupt elements in the society to account. “We tried to devise terms of reference (ToRs) but the government refused to accept them that forced us to file a petition in the Supreme Court,” he said.

Stressing the need for an across-the-board accountability, Siraj said corruption damaged Pakistan more than terrorism. Referring to the law and order situation in Balochistan, he said despite allocating more than Rs30 billion for security, the province was still bleeding.

The JI chief also addressed a public meeting where he said he would give the future line of action in connection with the JI’s Corruption Free Pakistan campaign in Islamabad on August 21. Siraj said issuing threats to the courts in the GT Road rallies and talking of winding up the Constitution was not democracy.

“When we talk of accountability, they cry out that democracy is in danger,” he said. However, he added that the threat to democracy was not from accountability but corruption and the system based on plunder. —INP