PML-N leaders grill govt about TI report

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Friday grilled the PTI’s government over the Transparency International (TI) report, which said corruption had increased in the country. Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz said the Sharif family was facing the revenge of the PTI government in the name of accountability. “So far, the government has failed to prove corruption of a single penny by Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and me,” he told the media on his arrival at the Punjab Assembly. He said the truth was overcoming the lies of the government. "Houses of labourers were demolished while the 300-kanal palace of Imran Khan was regularised for just Rs1.2 million," he added.

“The Transparency International report has exposed the corruption of the present government,” Hamza said, adding the government welcomed the report because it had no other option. He said the time was not far off when people would throw the government out. He said that Pakistan was an agricultural country but importing flour and sugar. "The government has failed in every field and questioned how long it would blame previous governments for its failures? The government has launched an operation against PML-N members on fake complaints while the castle of Bani Gala was cleared," he added. He said Shahbaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif had been arrested in fake cases while Lahore was turned into a landfill site. He said the chief minister met some members of the PML-N and the PPP and created an impression that the parties had broken up.

PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique said it was the first government whose people had started leaving it after the completion of its half term. “The NAB holds others accountable but who will take account of giving a large amount of money to Broadsheet? Azmat Saeed should not get entangled in the broadsheet issue. The biggest land mafia is the PTI,” he claimed while talking to the media outside the Punjab Assembly. He said the state should not become a tool of the management of private universities. He said state violence should be stopped and students be treated with love and leniency. He said the NAB was acting against opposition members only. "The recent TI report showed the true face of the rulers and maligned the country's image abroad," he added.

PML-N Punjab spokesperson Azma Bukhari alleged that CM Usman Bazdar was offering Rs500m each to opposition members for the Senate election. “The Transparency International report has exposed the Sadiq and Amin government,” she added.