No mention of corruption in court decision: PML-N

ISLAMABAD: Announcing to register a strong protest both inside and outside parliament, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday said ‘selective’ accountability of former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was not acceptable.

Addressing a press conference here, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that accountability court’s decision didn’t mention anything about corruption , as no evidence could be provided to the court in the cases against Nawaz Sharif.

Former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair, Rana Sanaullah, Mussadiq Malik, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Mushahidullah Khan also spoke on the occasion. Ahsan said the accountability court’s verdict won’t affect Nawaz and the party’s popularity.

He said ‘selective’ accountability of a ‘selected prime minister’ was not acceptable. “Nawaz Sharif was just assumed to be the owner of a company, as no evidence of corruption was found against him. The former prime minister was sentenced to seven years in prison for not taking salary from his son and now they have sentenced him for taking it. If sending money from abroad is a crime, then everyone who sends money from abroad is a criminal,” he said.

He said they will strive for bringing an in-House change. Ahsan questioned why cases against the PTI leaders had been pending for 10 years. He said the nation could better judge how a leader who defeated terrorism was being treated. “Those who voted for the PTI are praying to get rid of them,” he claimed.

Former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair said Aleem Khan, Aleema Khan and Jahangir Tareen should also be asked how they had sent their money abroad. He said if Aleema Khan’s case was resolved by paying fine, then it meant that she had committed some misdeed.

Former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah criticised Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed, saying, “Two persons always use foul language. One of them is the ‘Satan of Pindi’ and the other is the ‘Dubboo wrestler’ of Jhelum.”

The former law minister also said the public would hear “good news” soon. Meanwhile, the top leadership of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will converge in Larkana today (Wednesday) to formulate their future political and legal strategy to deal with the court cases against Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur following the Joint Investigation Team’s report on the fake bank accounts scam.

The party’s Central Executive Committee will meet with former president of Pakistan

and Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the chair.

According to sources in the PPP, Senator Farooq H Naek will brief the CEC on the JIT report submitted to the Supreme Court. Sources said a legal team, comprising Senator Farooq H Naek, Sardar Latif Khosa, Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Haider Zaman Qureshi and some professional lawyers, will contest the cases against the PPP leadership. Sources said the party was also considering filing cases of money laundering against the ruling PTI’s top leadership and Aleema Khan, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sister. The PPP has already sought details mentioned in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination papers filed for all the elections he had contested and details of his assets submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Asset details of Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda will also be sought. The PPP also sought details of foreign funding case of PTI from the Election Commission of Pakistan. It was also decided to seek the record of insider trading by Jehangir Tareen from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

According to sources, the CEC will also consider filing cases against the PTI in the light of record sought from the ECP, SECP and FBR; however, the PPP is yet to get a response from them. The party’s future political and parliamentary strategy would be announced on December 27 in a public rally at Garhi Khuda Bukhsh, Larkana, on the martyrdom anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will speak on the occasion.

The CEC is also expected to approve a white paper on ‘rigging’ in the general elections that was drafted by the election committee headed by Taj Haider. Latif Khosa will brief the CEC on Shaheed Benazir Bhutto murder case.

Sources said the CEC had also decided to take up the presidential reference on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case which was pending with the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Tuesday the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) accepted every court decision and was ready to face every graft case made on the basis of the JIT report.

He was speaking to reporters at Mazar-e-Quaid on the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. "We are ready to face courts for serving the people," the chief minister added. Shah pointed out that the JIT had written the provincial government gave tractors to the farmers at subsidised rates.