–PML-N leader says if NAB is desperate to interrogate Shehbaz Sharif it should do it on camera
–Firdous says PML-N leadership appears to be only worried about Sharif family, not about challenges facing country
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government over its strategy against the coronavirus pandemic, and called for a stricter lockdown in view of the rising number of cases in the country.
Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, he said that at a time when the number of infections and deaths in the country are surging, Prime Minister Imran Khan is preparing to ease the lockdown.
He warned that this decision would be catastrophic as there is a need for a stricter lockdown to curb the spread of the disease, considering that local transmission of the disease is peaking.
Abbasi said that the opposition has been offering a unified approach in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak but the government’s planning and execution is in total disarray because it refuses to be the force for national cohesion and prefers its solo flight.
He said that the government focused its energies on targeting PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and took one wrong decision after another in the fight against the virus.
He also said that if the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is desperate to interrogate Shehbaz, it must question him publicly and in the presence of media so that people of Pakistan can know that “this is nothing more than a tactic to harass and insult the PML-N president”.
He further said that the anti-graft watchdog should ask the same questions from PM Imran and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar. “The entire country has seen that Shehbaz was proven right at all legal forums, so it is now time to hold others to the same standard,” he added.
Abbasi said that “NAB has not learned anything after repeatedly embarrassing itself in courts over politically-motivated cases” against Shehbaz. He said that NAB did everything in its power to frame the PML-N president in “fictious cases” but “failed miserably” because it could not find corruption of even a single penny.
He lamented that the National Assembly (NA) opposition leader was kept behind bars for over 130 days without any proof or reason to detain him. He added that no PML-N leader was afraid of going to jail over these “politically-motivated” and “fake cases” because they faced similar persecution bravely in the past.
Referring to the recent call up notice sent to Shehbaz by NAB, he said that the urgency of this interrogation makes no sense, considering that he is a cancer survivor and cannot risk flouting his self-isolation amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier in the day, a NAB spokesman said that Shehbaz Sharif was not cooperating with the investigation officer regarding the references against him.
In a statement, the bureau warned the PML-N president of using legal way if he does not cooperate in the probe.
Shehbaz Sharif has been re-summoned by the anti-corruption watchdog on April 22 in assets beyond means case.
‘THEY WERE THROWN OUT OF POWER’:
Responding to Abbasi’s criticism, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the rulers who could not run the affairs of the country were thrown out of power by the people in the last general election.
In a series of tweets, she said that PM Imran was taking steps to protect the people from the coronavirus outbreak while also saving them from hunger.
She said that the entire nation is fighting the war against coronavirus but the PML-N leadership appears to be only worried about the Sharif family.
She also said that the party’s leadership is mentioning Shehbaz these days because they are no longer in power in Punjab. Instead of standing with the masses, the opposition leader has preferred to remain in self-isolation after his return from England, she added.
The PM’s aide said that those who used the law for personal benefits in the past should know that in ‘Naya Pakistan’ national institutions are free and law is supreme.
She urged Abbasi to ask the Sharif family to return the nation’s looted money as “this is the time to serve the nation”. She added that the PML-N leaders are not even pretending to spend a few pennies from their pockets on coronavirus patients.
She asked the Sharif family to stand with the people they over ruled for decades.
