APC was ganging up of mafia: PTI

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz Sunday said the all parties conference (APC) was a flimsy attempt to put pressure on the government to back off on accountability.

“The nation has witnessed that the opposition used politics for personal gains and used parliament to protect their personal empires.

PMIK [Prime Minister Imran Khan] will never compromise on his commitment on corruption. Hence no NRO,” he asserted in reaction to the opposition’s main event in the federal capital.

The atmosphere in the federal capital, he noted, was normal, only a few political leaders had gathered while Nawaz Sharif did not say anything new in today's statement. Nawaz Sharif has also said such things in the campaign of ‘Why he was ousted’ in 2018.

“Nawaz Sharif should be asked who is making statements against national institutions? Opposition to the FATF bill and anti-institutional campaign was evident in Nawaz Sharif's speech. There should be a debate on who is giving the statement to Nawaz Sharif. Institutions should take notice of his speech,” he added. The minister said that if they (opposition) were in power, then everything was fine, but if they were in opposition, then democracy was in danger. He said Nawaz Sharif looked healthy and well; he was sitting outside the country and defying the law of the country.

“If Nawaz Sharif is a benefactor of Pakistan, then he should come to Pakistan by selling properties worth billions. And instead of asking for money trail from Imran Khan, let him appear before the law,” he emphasised.

Shibli said Nawaz claimed in his speech that elections had been managed, but he forgot the fact that he himself was the prime minister thrice, whereas Imran Khan had become the PM for the first time.

Shibli said Imran Khan had given a complete money trail of 40 years and the Supreme Court declared him honest and trustworthy.

Referring to the head of the anti-graft body, he noted that NAB chairman was jointly appointed by both the opposition parties and that when Nawaz Sharif was in government, he did not abolish NAB or change the NAB law. “As soon as cases were filed against him, he started making noise. All the fuss is being made to put corruption behind them. This opposition is playing with the country and the nation is suffering the consequences today,” he added.

The minister contended that the media was free; we are not even told what to do. The PM had given clear instructions not to take action against the media. He noted that it was good that Nawaz Sharif's speech was broadcast live and he himself was exposed for the nation knew how hypocritical their words were while Nawaz Sharif looked completely healthy and it became clear that the disease was manipulated to get out.

Other PTI leaders said that Nawaz Sharif, in his speech, not only expressed his grudge against the national institutions but also committed a suicide attack on the politics of his brother Shahbaz Sharif.

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, in a statement, said that Nawaz Sharif speech was a suicide attack on the politics of his brother Shahbaz Sharif. He said that Shahbaz, in his speech, tried his best to control the damage, caused by his brother.

He said that both Maryam Nawaz and her uncle Shahbaz Sharif were not ready to accept each other. He said Shahbaz Sharif's entire politics was meant to protect his son and get abolished the pending cases against him.

Provincial Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said the APC was a gathering for personal gains whereas the parties which participated in it were not even sincere with one another. He said the government would complete its term.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill told the media on Sunday that the APC of the opposition was a gathering of "Pakistan Lootmar Association". He said that it had been held in Islamabad for almost 5th time in a short span of two years.

Shahbaz Gill said that there was a loud and clear message for the opposition parties that the accountability process would continue at all costs, no matter how many APCs they held. He said holding of APCs so frequently reflected their thirst for money laundering, which was still not satiated.

He said that entire Sharif family, who used to consider themselves as the king of Punjab, were present today as the courtiers before Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

He said that incumbent government would implement two agendas: one of human development and the other of accountability.

To a query, he said the government job was to provide conducive environment for accountability and the rest was the job of the courts.

He wondered what were the businesses which helped Shahbaz Sharif increase his assets by 1000 per cent. He said that the main purpose behind the APC was to get an NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance], a deal through which they could get away with their illegal wealth. Dr Asim was facing money laundering charges of Rs462 billion, Bilawal of Rs5 billion, Sharjeel Memon of Rs5 billion, Agha Siraj Durrani of Rs1 billion, Khursheed Shah of illegal assets of Rs500 billion, etc., he added.

He said the JUI-F chief Maulana [Fazlur Rehman] uses children for his political motives who come to acquire religious education.

Meanwhile, speaking to Geo News following Nawaz Sharif's speech, PM's aide on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar said the "nation just heard, against the law, the live speech of a convicted criminal".

"And then they claim that the media is not free in Pakistan! They say 'vote ko izzat dou' (respect the vote) and as usual, as soon as the wind blows, they abandon the voters and flee to London," Shahzad Akbar said.

"(Nawaz) is adamant that only those judges are acceptable to him who acquit him despite the evidence," he added.

The adviser also criticised Bilawal, stating that since the PPP boss could "only read out from a scripted speech, he was claiming 'the former prime minister is not being allowed to speak'".

"The whole nation is watching the real face of your former prime minister, as well as you! It seems that Sherry (Rehman) is sitting far away and was unable to correct the written speech.

"The opposition tried to blackmail the (government) over the FATF bill," Shahzad Akbar added, terming the APC as "nothing more than a gang of fugitive criminals and accused individuals".