PML-N to see discipline in future: Shahbaz

ISLAMABAD: PML-N President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif Thursday said all party leaders would strictly abide by the discipline in future and make it sure that if there was something in the party it won’t spill out.

In an interview with the ‘Capital Talk’ programme of Geo, Shahbaz urged the party workers not to let the present difficult situation dampen their spirits and wait for the day when they would settle all the old scores with the current rulers.

Shahbaz said he would be arrested anytime and was ready to face the situation. “I have no doubts … I am sure I will be arrested anytime,” said Shahbaz. He was responding to a question that Rana Sanaullah while speaking to ‘Capital Talk’ host a day before his arrest had said he feared his arrest anytime.

Shahbaz said he was ready to face the situation but would continue to fight for the rights of the people and raise his voice. He once again refused to accept Prime Minister Imran Khan as an elected premier andrepresentative of the masses, calling him a ‘selected one’.

“I am 100 percent opposition leader in the National Assembly, while Imran Khan is a ‘selected’ prime minister,” he said. He also opined that the National Assembly Speaker should not expunge the word ‘selected’ if used for Imran Khan in the House.

He said Imran was a ‘fascist’ and a continuous threat to the democratic system. “He is threat to the democratic system and his actions are bound to roll back democracy,” he added. To a question, Shahbaz confirmed an earlier statement of Rana Sanaullah Khan that some PML-N members of the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly had met the PTI leadership.

“I did not meet them but I have been told that they have met the PTI leadership,” he said adding that they might be weak persons or might have other reasons. He said by meeting the PML-N members, Imran Khan was negating his own claims that neither he would take turncoats nor he would indulge in horse-trading.

Condemning the arrest of Rana Sanaullah by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), he categorically rejected charges against him saying it was out of question that he was carrying drugs. “How a person who is continuously being monitored and during whose 10-year tenure in the Punjab government a number of raids were conducted against dens of drugs, could be involved in smuggling of heroin?” he asked.

Answering a number of questions about charges of corruption against him, Shahbaz said he would apologise to the nation if any charge was proved against him. “I challenge them to prove charges against me but they should also come up with evidences,” he said.

He also rejected an impression that he had secured commission from Chinese companies in projects executed by them, particularly the Orange Train Project. “No charges can be proved against me even if they bring supra NAB,” he said, adding that a lot of claims were made with regard to corruption in Multan Metro Bus project but nothing came, while in Orange Train project. A saving of Rs75 billion was made as the contact was awarded for the first time to a Chinese firm through bidding.

Terming accountability lopsided, he said Dr. Babar Awan was cleared of charges in Nandipur power project while PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was implicated. He said whatever his family earned was invested in the county besides paying taxes.

Shahbaz said Imran Khan was the biggest liar in the country’s history adding that he was a fascist and the Hitler hidden in him was also coming out. He said Imran always opposed the amnesty scheme but introduced it himself adding that the PTI chairman got his flat cleared under Musharraf’s amnesty scheme.

To a question, Shahbaz said he was the party president while Maryam was vice president. He said Maryam was his niece and like his own daughter. He said Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was the party’s ‘Rahber’. He pointed out that differences in any political party was the beauty of democracy but he felt these differences must be discussed.

“I will ensure party disciple and always try to take decisions with consultation,” he said. He regretted that Nawaz Sharif was stopped from meeting visitors, while only five of family members were permitted to see him at the Kot Lakhpat Jail.