Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari came down hard on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government and the National Accountability Bureau over what he called a massive political engineering being done to suppress his party and its leadership. He added that NAB was founded for the purpose of political engineering and the legislation which governs the bureau’s functioning is a black law. According to media report, He said the actions being conducted by the NAB do not take place in any democracy or society with a rule of law. He conceded that it was partly his party’s failure that it did not bring any reform to NAB while being in power.
The PPP chairman said the entire country has witnessed that injustice was done with him and the way he has been dragged into the case for political engineering. Bilawal said at a hearing, former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar had announced that he is innocent and his name should be expunged from the JIT and the exit control list. But, after this the written orders came, which may have been written by someone else, and those did not include these remarks of the chief justice, he noted.
Bilawal said the move by NAB to arrest Sindh Assembly Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani on ‘trumped-up charges’ is highly condemnable. He said in the case, Durrani was taken into custody based on an allegation and that there was no evidence of any corruption having been committed.
He said PPP cannot tolerate the way Durrani’s house was entered into following his arrest and added that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has previously condemned the way the women in Durrani’s family were allegedly misbehaved with. The PPP chairman said he wants a democratic Pakistan but this cannot happen until courts are strong and independent and make decisions on their own. The Bilawal’s harsh criticism on NAB about its procedures of managing accountability process is not new as major political parties are continuously blaming about its ‘unfair treatment’ in the cases against them. These parties are raising serious reservations against ongoing accountability process under NAB. It is fact that these political parties failed to revamp it during their tenures in the governments. The alleged targeting of political opponents by using NAB is causing political instability in the country. The reservations of major political parties on NAB should be resolved and steps should be taken to implement inclusive accountability system in the country. The political parties should join hands to improve NAB by amending its law to avoid any misuse of this institution against anyone.