KARACHI: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday challenged the government to remove the “corrupt” members of the federal cabinet and asked the National Accountability Bureau chief retired Justice Javed Iqbal who was he loyal to.
The vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was speaking to media outside an accountability court where he had gone to attend a hearing in a reference concerning purported misuse of authority against him.
Abbasi said that a case pertaining to the appointment of PSO managing director had been in the court for the last two years but the dirty money watchdog had failed to prove any wrongdoing in the process.
He asked the reporters to read judgements of high courts of Lahore and Islamabad which he insisted will reveal the truth.
He claimed that “fabricated cases” were lodged against the opposition politicians. He said the ministers who boasted of “catching” us were now hiding their faces and clearing their positions.
He said the corrupt were sitting right in the government. Abbasi, without taking any names, asked how many ministers were removed from their positions after their names appeared in the corruption scandals. He dared the government to remove them from their offices.
Abbasi declared he was not afraid of NAB. He said had the NAB chief read the court judgements, he would have been ashamed.
He said that the Islamabad High Court had given a detailed judgement on his bail application, terming the case against him unsubstantiated. He rued that now the government people were clearing their positions on the matter.
He said that they had been telling the nation about his corruption for the last three years but their assertions were all lies.
The former prime minister further said the courts had given three judgements in a week and all belied the NAB cases. He cautioned that if NAB continued to act in an irresponsible manner, nobody would work here.
He stated that they could not make a single case of corruption against deposed prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.
He lamented that there was a shortage of electricity in the country and asked the government who was responsible for it.
On Prime Minister Imran Khan skipping the National Security Committee meeting, he was of the view that everyone should participate in matters of national interest.
On the forthcoming general election in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Abbasi stressed the need to hold transparent elections in the region.
He said if the authorities could not hold a fair election in Kashmir then everything was rubbish.
