Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Treasury and opposition senators, mainly from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on Monday traded barbs in the Upper House of parliament over Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Opposition members termed the arrest of Shehbaz political victimisation. They urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government to release Shehbaz and stop making any further cases against the Sharif family.

However, ruling senators rejected the notion that Shehbaz was arrested on the recommendation of the federal government. “The government has no role in the arrest of Shehbaz,” they said, adding that the irregularities were committed by previous government. “The NAB is an independent organisation.”

Also, the treasury benches strongly protested against Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Ataur Rehman’s remarks against Prime Minister Imran Khan during his speech over Shahbaz’s arrest. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) leader in his speech said that the opposition leader’s arrest at the behest of the federal government had compromised the sanctity of the house.

“The premier doesn’t understand where the country is heading towards,” he said. The ministers and the members of the treasury benches protested against the remarks. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani demanded an apology from the opposition member.

State Minister Ali Muhammad Khan said that the remarks were intolerable. Senator Azam Swati said that Maulana Ataur Rehman had disturbed the decorum of the House. Meanwhile, the JUI-F leader refused to apologise for his remarks.

“When we say anything they object to it on the pretext of disturbing the sanctity of the house but what about the sanctity of the country,” he said.

In his address, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government completely believed in impartial and transparent accountability. “It is a right of the opposition parties to discuss the issue of arrest of Shehbaz, but people have also the right to know about the reality,” he said.

He said it was also a fact that the country had been looted with both hands and people behind this loot and plunder should be arrested. Without naming anyone, he said that people created hurdle in the accountability by terming it political victimisation.

The debate took an ugly turn when Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Senator Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar hurled allegations at the ruling party that Shehbaz had been arrested at behest of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan. Kakar went on to say that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was working in collusion with ruling PTI. “Even Nawaz Sharif and her daughter Maryam Nawaz were subjected to revenge proceedings”, claimed Kakar.

When Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry started his speech, the opposition benches made hue and cry and staged a walk out.

Fawad Chaudhry said that the NAB was an independent institution and the government had no role in the arrest of Shehbaz. However, he made it clear that plunderers and looters would not be spared.

Fawad said no derogatory language could be tolerated against security forces of Pakistan. He said members of armed forces had sacrificed their lives to bring peace and stability in the country. He said the corruption cases against PML-N leaders were filed in the tenure of the last government and the incumbent government had nothing to do with them.

The chairman adjourned the session to meet again tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3 pm due to lack of quorum when pointed out by opposition senators.

Published in Daily Times, October 9^th 2018.