Shahbaz for exposing source of NAB statement against Nawaz

LAHORE/NANKANA SAHIB: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the announcement made by the National Accountability Bureau regarding an investigation into alleged money laundering by Nawaz Sharif should be probed to determine who was behind the move.

Shahbaz, who is also the PML-N president, added that the announcement had badly damaged NAB’s repute and credibility. He said the State Bank of Pakistan and the World Bank had also contradicted the claim about alleged money laundering.

With regards to a recent statement by the NAB chairman that its sun is shining over the entire country, not just Punjab, as stated by Shahbaz earlier, he said it seemed the sun had been blocked by clouds in the other provinces.

Talking to media after meeting Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal who is undergoing treatment after a failed assassination bid, Shahbaz said they have to go to the root cause of the issue behind the rising extremism and intolerance in society.

In response to a question, the chief minister said disgruntled party leader Chaudhry Nisar was his friend, adding that he had asked Nisar not to let emotions take him over as he enjoyed a position in the party.

“He is my friend and he is respectable to me as well. It is my request that he should not be emotional.” Replying to various questions, the chief minister said those leaving the PML-N were the independents who had joined the party after the 2013 elections. “The upcoming elections will prove that who flies higher,” he remarked.

To another question, the chief minister said the attack on Ahsan was a tragic incident which had made the country a laughing stock in the world. Answering another question, Shahbaz said he had already pointed that the Zardari House and the Bani Gala were the same thing.

Earlier, the chief minister laid the foundation stone of Punjab Agriculture, Food and Drug Authority Science Enclave project adjacent to Punjab Forensic Science Agency at Thokar Niaz Beg.

Later in the day, Shahbaz inaugurated different development projects at DHQ Hospital Nankana, where he said the sit-in politics had destroyed the prosperity and happiness of the masses.

He said the claims of progress in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were mere stories like those shared at the Qissa Khwani Bazaar of Peshawar. “The nation will give an answer to all this in the 2018 elections to those who put hurdles in progress,” said the chief minister.

Shahbaz also paid a surprise visit to a wheat procurement centre at Safdarabad where he listened to the problems of the growers and issued on-the-spot instructions to resolve these. His helicopter landed at Safdarabad before his visit to Nankana Sahib. He reached to the wheat procurement centre in an ordinary coach without any security or protocol. The administration remained unaware about this inspection.

Also on Wednesday, the chief minister said the journey of development would be extended to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a real revolution in health and education sectors. He was talking to PML-N Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Amir Muqam who, speaking on the occasion, said the PTI-led government had ruined the province.