Nawaz getting ‘royal accountability’: Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister and Chairman Senate Committee on Interior Senator Abdur Rehman Malik Friday said former president Asif Ali Zardari faced a ‘strict accountability’ while former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was getting a ‘royal accountability’.

“Former president Asif Ali Zardari was produced before the accountability court in an armored vehicle, while Nawaz Sharif came to the accountability court with a royal protocol,” he said while talking to The News/Jang.

Senator Rehman Malik advised Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his cabinet to follow a policy of non-confrontation in order to bring the country out of crises. “It’s always good for the government to take all the institutions along by following the law so that all institutions remain on the same page for the betterment of country,” he said.

Malik said continuous ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC), increase in terrorist attacks in Balochistan, Afghan-Indian nexus against Pakistan and US threats could not be ignored.

“The government should focus on the Indian intentions in view of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent anti-Pakistan statements and increase in tension in the region,’ he said, adding that Subramanian Swamy’s statement shows the real intentions of India which came out in Modi’s statement.

Malik said Pakistan needed an active diplomacy, as the enemy forces were making all-out efforts to put Pakistan into isolation in the international community. He said there was need to plead Pakistan’s case in the world to counter the negative propaganda with an active, positive diplomacy to tell the world that Pakistan is the real victim of terrorism. 

“The US and other countries in the world have a misunderstanding that Pakistan is sympathetic towards terrorists and this wrong impression needs to be removed through an active diplomatic lobbying,” he said.

Malik termed the meeting of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a positive development and a good omen for the region. “Saudi Arabia should play a role for revival of friendship between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he suggested. Malik advised the rulers to improve governance keeping their political interest aside and demonstrate confidence in the national institutions.