The government is yet to approach the opposition to gather support for amending the law of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
During a consultative meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday, it was highlighted that the government has not approached the opposition so far.
The meeting, which was held with PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, decided to raised voice against the anti-corruption body at every forum.
They also decided that the party would respond only when the government would make a formal announcement regarding amending the NAB law.
PML-N also decided to hold full-scale protest against summoning of Shehbaz by the NAB and expected action against other party members.
Separately, former railways minister and PML-N senior leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, while speaking to the media, said that there is a lot of talk going on about the 18th Amendment in the country but nobody from the government has contacted PML-N in this regard.
He said that proposed amendments to the NAB law have nothing to do with the 18th Amendment.
The PML-N leader said that the party can ponder over proposals for any changes in the amendment but did not want to compromise on the provincial autonomy. He slammed the present NAB law, saying that “state affairs and the law cannot go together”.
On April 25, sources had said that the federal government had started formal consultations to take the opposition parties into confidence over drafting a new ordinance, with the NAB Amendment Ordinance, 2019, nearing its expiry.
They had said that the first meeting of a committee tasked to draft a new ordinance met at the residence of National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaisar, wherein a decision was made to take the opposition on board.
On April 29, it had emerged that federal government was likely to amend the NAB law through a new ordinance.
A report had stated that after the new ordinance, special courts would be empowered to decide about the bail of people accused of corruption. The new ordinance would also end NAB chairman’s authority for releasing the arrest warrant of an accused person, the report had added.
It had also stated that the federal government was also considering to add a disqualification clause, whereby anyone found guilty of corruption would be disqualified from holding a public position for five years, regardless of whether they voluntarily submit the looted money or not.
The report had further stated that Law Minister Farogh Naseem had apprised Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding amended laws in making and had asked him to take other political parties into confidence over the matter.
