Daily Times

PML-N leader and former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Saturday that state institutions should ensure all enmities are buried for the sake of Pakistan’s progress.

While addressing a ceremony, the PML-N leader said that the legal system should not be in shackles and ought to be free to dispense justice.

“We will reach our goals by sticking to our stance. Every (party) should have a new Charter of Democracy and Charter of Economy,” he said.

The PML-N leader continued the country will continue to see an increase in hatred and enmities if leaders continue to pursue vendettas against each other.

“The business of accountability should stop and justice should take precedence,” said the former minister.

Rejecting the notion of nepotism in politics, Rafique said that only politicians can run the country and no system other than democracy can prevail in the long run.

In December 2018, the National Accountability Bureau had arrested Saad Rafique and his brother, Salman Rafique, after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected their request for an extension in their pre-arrest bail in a case pertaining to the housing society scam.

The Rafique brothers had approached the apex court after the LHC had cancelled their bail plea. In March 2020, the Supreme Court of Pakistan approved their bail while castigating NAB over procedural irregularities and lack of due process.

According to Rafique, he was arrested and sent to jail because he had decided to contest a by-election from the same constituency where he had been defeated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The PML-N MNA alleged that his constituency was divided into three parts intentionally and his strongholds were left out so that he could not contest from them. He said that PM Imran managed to secure a victory through a lead of an estimated 450-500 votes whereas, from other constituencies, he had won with over a margin of 22,000-25,000 votes.

Rafique said that when he requested a vote count, it was also shot down by former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar. The PML-N leader said that the only option that remained for him was to contest the by-election. “I had no choice but to contest the by-election,” he said. “I think if I did not contest the by-election, I wouldn’t have been arrested.”