Govt using NAB to suppress opponents: Shahbaz

LAHORE: Bashir Memon’s interview has exposed the NAB-Niazi nexus and proved that the government used in the past and is still using the National Accountability Bureau as a tool for suppressing the political opponents.

This was stated by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and leader of the opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif while talking to the media, here on Friday.

He said it was he who, for the first time, spoke about the NAB-Niazi nexus, which was later proved by Bashir Memon's statement after three years. He said he had not seen such a manipulative and fascist government in his life.

“This government does not care about people; it has only a revenge agenda,” he said adding that instead of calling the opposition a thief, the government should focus on solving public problems. The government had done nothing to end poverty or unemployment and spent all its energies to suppress the opposition, Shahbaz alleged.

When asked why he did not meet Maulana Fazlur Rehman during his visit to Islamabad, he said he was not aware of his presence in the Capital and he believed that the Maulana would have gone to his village to observe Aitkaaf there. “When the Maulana’s secretary contacted us we have already left for Lahore,” Shahbaz explained adding that “now we have an appointment after Eid”. Shahbaz appreciated the media over his court appearances coverage even in the scorching heat.

Shahbaz said he was thankful to Allah Almighty that he got released on bail on merit and with honour. He said the incumbent fascist government did not hesitate even to implicate females of the opposition politicians as well as their own companions in false cases. The PMLN president said there were mega corruption cases surfacing during this government including sugar, flour, Malam Jabba, BRT scams, but no one was investigating those cases. He announced that the PMLN would change the NAB laws after coming to power.

About participating in the electoral reforms of the government, Shahbaz said whenever he talked about a charter of economy, the government termed the opposition thieves. He said now it would be a collective matter and the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] would decide on it together.

He said the government did not even care about the starvation of people, the decreasing level of poverty and unemployment. The government has no interest in public issues, he added.

The opposition leader said the government should have allocated all resources and energies for buying vaccines after outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. “We had no knowledge of dengue, but we did our best.

“Doctors told me that 25,000 people can die from dengue. I could not sleep all night, thinking that we have no resources,” he said adding that despite all odds “we started work insanely and only 250 people died in the first year and not a single death in the next year”.

About Pak-China relations, Shahbaz said that China was a permanent friend of Pakistan. “Work on CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] was going slow, which is a failure of the government,” he claimed, adding that the Chinese ambassador told him that they were still there for CPEC. Shahbaz said the biggest problem of today was inflation, unemployment. He said it was high time to steer the nation out of inflation and poverty. About his London trip, he said there was an appointment for his check-up on Monday.

Later, Shahbaz Sharif also met a delegation of party parliamentarians and appreciated the efforts of party leaders including Maryam Nawaz for strengthening the party. He said every party leader and worker fought against the revengeful politics of the government. He said Javed Latif was in jail, Khwaja Asif and many other party leaders were facing cases in the name of accountability. He saluted the party leaders and workers who did not change their loyalties and faced every revengeful act of the government with courage. He said the party leaders and workers followed the narrative of Nawaz Sharif and hoped that they would continue to follow the party policies with the same spirit and courage.

Shahbaz directed the party leaders to start mass mobilisation campaign in their respective constituencies.