Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Senator Aitzaz Ahsan on Sunday said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had fled the country and condemned Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for holding a ‘cabinet meeting’ in London.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, the PPP leader said PM Abbasi was on an official visit to Tajikistan and later went to London where Ishaq Dar fell sick.

He alleged that Pakistan’s decisions were being made in London, referring to recent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz meetings in England’s capital, including a huddle attended by senior leadership of the ruling party.

“They are making a mockery of NAB [National Accountability Bureau]. This will be a test for the NAB chairman”, said Ahsan, referring to the corruption references against Dar.

He decried that the decisions of the state were being taken abroad, and that PM Abbasi was holding cabinet meetings in London.

“The cabinet holds meetings in London and the prime minister and [Punjab] chief minister goes there”, Aitzaz said. He said Ishaq Dar fled because his name was not placed on the Exit Control List, and that NAB was responsible for it. “If Ishaq Dar’s name was not on the ECL, then why was Dr Asim’s name placed”, he asked, decrying the dual standards against them.

“There are different set of laws for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the rest of the world”, he said, adding that retired captain Safdar received bail from a court not authorised to issue it. “We are still saying that justice is not being done.”

He said that there should be no dual standards, and the laws of accountability in Sindh should also be applied in Punjab. “The rules imposed on the PPP should also be imposed on PML-N.”

He said the burden of proof lied on the Sharif family, and Nawaz Sharif had failed to provide evidence proving his innocence. “Court, JIT and NAB pleaded to submit documents”, he said but Sharif was not able to provide more than a bogus Qatari letter and a trust deed.

He said Nawaz Sharif was engulfed in a tough legal process, and was trying hard to break free. He further said that institutions will not succumb to pressure and cow down, and if the Sharif family was innocent then it should submit documents to prove their innocence.

Aitzaz Ahsan accused the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of bringing Pakistan to a critical juncture.

“He [Nawaz] has ridiculed the country’s legal system by not abiding by the National Accountability Bureau’s laws”, Ahsan said.

He said that the former president Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister and PPP leader Yousuf Raza Gillani had set a better precedent by obtaining bails.

“Nawaz is responsible for bringing Pakistan to the critical juncture that it stands on today”, he said.

He also accused PML-N ministers including Khawaja Asif, Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal of having work permits of foreign countries and said NAB should take action against them and put their names on the ECL.

Published in Daily Times, November 6^th 2017.