Daily Times

Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz on Wednesday said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman should form his own political party.

“The NAB chairman should form his own political party if he wants to indulge in politics and should make an alliance with Imran Khan,” he said, while talking to reporters outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) after it extended his bail.

He severely criticised the NAB chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan. “The alliance between Imran Khan and NAB will be at the top of the list whenever the history of our sinking economy is written,” he said.

Criticising NAB and prime minister, Hamza Shehbaz said that NAB was trying to hide behind the government. “The PM is trying to hide behind NAB. The alliance between both of them is no more a secret. I am not worried about my cases or arrest, but he I am worried about the poor people who face a difficult life due to increasing inflation. Prices of medicines have increased by 400 percent. We did not run away even during the dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf. Shehbaz Sharif will also come back soon. The corruption cases against us are just a political vendetta. Therefore, it is unacceptable for us,” he said.

Expressing concern over the poor state of the economy, he said that the devaluation of Pakistani rupee was detrimental to the country’s economy. “The increasing prices of gas and electricity is also badly affecting the life of a common man,” he said.

Earlier, a two-member LHC bench, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, had extended the interim bail granted Hamza Shehbaz till May 28.

During the hearing, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that Hamza, as well as his brother Salman and father Shahbaz Sharif, owned assets beyond their means.

“Salman’s frontmen were involved in money laundering through bank accounts belonging to Salman’s employees. Muhammad Mushtaq alias Chini, who was the manager of Ramzan Sugar Mills, had been offloaded from a PIA flight and arrested last month. He had disclosed that Salman used bank accounts opened in the names of his employee, who were either labourers or low-paid workers. Hamza benefited from the money laundering,” NAB lawyer said.

Hamza’s lawyer said that NAB had not provided a report by the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). He requested the court to order the bureau to hand the documents over to the petitioner. The NAB prosecutor said that the FMU report was a classified document and could not be given to Hamza.

Hamza is being investigated for owning assets beyond his known sources of income, and alleged corruption in Ramzan Sugar Mills and the Punjab Saaf Pani Company.

A NAB team had raided his residence to arrest him, but he had managed to escape. He was then granted bail by the LHC.