Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s refusal to appear: NAB, PPP come face to face

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) came face to face on Tuesday after the former issued a press statement on Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s refusal to appear before and termed it against the assurances of appearance which he had given through his lawyers.

In a statement, the NAB spokesman termed the media reports attributed to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari contrary to a letter written to the NAB Rawalpindi by Bilawal Bhutto through his lawyer saying that he will have no objection to appearing before NAB’s joint investigation team after Jan 15 whereas media reports said he had declined to appear before the NAB.

“This is against his assurance given to NAB,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said furthermore the filthy language used or threat given by a party chairman to the NAB could not stop it from performing its legal duties in accordance with the law.

He said the NAB was working to eradicate corruption from the country and it strongly believed in having point of view/ statement of any person against whom a probe was continuing aiming to fulfil all legal requirements of justice.

“The accused could not be deprived of his legal right as per law,” the spokesman said. Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, spokesman for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said the statement of NAB about Chairman PPP was far from the truth. “There is no divergence between the press conference of Chairman PPP and the letter to the NAB,” he said. He said if the NAB was following the law then why only the opposition was the target of its activities.

“The lawyers of the PPP chairman in a letter to the NAB have declared the NAB's notices as political harassment. NAB's misstatements cannot restore NAB's sagging reputation,” he said.

He said lawyers had also written in the letter that despite reservations, the PPP chairman was ready to appear before the NAB after 15 January.

He said asking the chairman PPP to appear before the NAB just three days before the martyrdom anniversary of his mother was not an impartial action.

He said everyone knew that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the PPP were busy preparing for the anniversary. “The PPP leadership will not be frightened by such tactics and will continue to represent the people of Pakistan,” he said.

He concluded by saying that the PPP always respected the law and the Constitution and its leadership had faced courts and never ran away from country.