Bilawal Bhutto says NAB should be closed

Lahore: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that after the verdict of Supreme Court, there is no justification of NAB to continue working and it should be closed.

Addressing a press conference, he also challenged NAB that if it follows the Supreme Court judgment then arrest all advisors, special assistants to prime minister and also conduct arrests in foreign funding case, BRT project, Malam Jabba and other cases.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that a delegation of PML-N called on and they discussed different options and also formed committees for All Parties Conference of the opposition parties. A detailed agenda is being prepared for the APC keeping in mind the needs of the people of Pakistan. He said that the APC will be held after Shahbaz Sharif recovers from illness.

He said that Punjab which is the largest province with the most resources have been handed over to a team which is under training. Punjab could not fight Covid-19 effectively despite having the most resources on its disposal. Punjab government did not support doctors and medical workers.

He said that the government in Punjab is unable to run the affairs of the province. He said that Punjab is bread basket and if the agriculture in Punjab suffers due to inefficient government the entire Pakistan will suffer. PPP government brought agriculture boom in the country but now the food security of the country is threatened due to Punjab incapable and under training government. He said that the federal and Punjab government has pushed every Pakistani citizen towards danger.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the Transparency International has declared this PTI government the most corrupt government in history. Who is doing corruption now, he asked.

The PTI admits that there is corruption then who is doing this corruption. He said that Ali Zaidi makes money in BRT project for Imran Khan. There is corruption in billion trees, Malam Jabba and auditor general has declared the 270 billion worth of corruption and irregularities in government departments. Transparency International has said that there is a corruption of 118 billion rupees in postal services. The government cronies made billions in flour, sugar and petrol corruption. This money was taken out of the pockets of the people.

Chairman PPP said that he had always said that NAB is being used for political engineering and now the Supreme Court has also said this. He read out from the Supreme Court verdict and said that after this verdict there is no justification of existence of NAB. If the NAB chairman has any shame then he should resign and go home, he demanded.

After reading some parts of the Supreme Court verdict he said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s and his own stance about NAB has been proved correct. Supreme Court has verified what we had been saying for years. Now, the Parliament should legislate for across the board accountability.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the results of the selected governments are before us.

The economy, democracy and the society suffer the most due to such selected governments. Everybody is in loss when an engineered government is imposed upon the people of Pakistan.

He said that now the joke that is NAB should end. The country is about to enter in its worst economic crisis. We are going through a pandemic and attacks on our crops by locusts. Now, the political engineering should end. The government is trying to bring legislation in the name of FATF which will usurp all basic human rights.

The PPP has always been ready o support legislation against terrorism but if you do not fight terrorism then PPP cannot support the government.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that I am still waiting for government’s response about the terrorist Ehsanullah Ehsan. Prime Minister called Osama Bin Laden a Shaheed and we are still waiting for his clarification. Whenever I criticize the PTI government, Ehsanullah Ehsan threatens me personally and the party. He asked how Ehsanullah Ehsan escaped from the detention. Who was responsible for his escape? In whose custody was Ehsanullah Ehsan when he successfully escaped? Why were cases not initiated against him? He was involved in killing innocent children of APS, our military men and our citizens. How such a terrorist and killer escaped the custody, he asked.

Responding to questions from journalists, he said that all the people which are under NAB’s arrest should be released including Khursheed Shah. He said that PPP condemns NAB for calling Shehbaz Sharif to appear before it. No one should play politics on anybody’s health. Shehbaz Sharif is a cancer patient, he said that working relation of PPP and PML-N is cordial. We will work together. He said whatever decision has to be taken; it will be taken jointly by the opposition. He said that PPP never talked about minus one and will never do so; it was the prime minister himself who mentioned minus one about himself in the National Assembly.

Chairman PPP demanded level playing field for PPP and PML-N. Everyone should have equal opportunity for politics. He said that Imran Khan was never destined to be a prime minister but he was imposed on the nation. If this trend continues, then the situation will be out of control and no political party or selectors will be able to control the wrath of the people. PPP will always be a part of democratic process.

He reminded that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto stopped Nawaz Sharif from becoming Ameer-ul-Momineen with only seventeen seats in the national assembly. We will continue to tread the path of democracy. PPP has always been a victim of political engineering. He said that the largest party in Punjab is PML-N but the PTI has formed the government by political engineering.

When asked about the health of President Zardari, the Chairman PPP said that President Zardari was not well while he was in Islamabad. Now, he is much better. President Zardari never stopped politics, he is always in contact with Party leaders and the leaders of other parties as well. President Zardari never gave up politics even for a day; he will continue to guide us with his experience all his life. We need his experience to make alliances and he has expertise in dealing with other parties and forming united fronts.

This is the reason that this government is frightened of President Zardari, he said. Responding to a question about speaker and deputy speaker of the national assembly, he said that both of them are running the parliament in illegal manner. The national assembly cannot talk about the issues of the people and the assembly becomes a jalsa of PTI. We have to discuss this issue in the APC as well. He said that so far, he has not given a call for protest against the government but he is preparing his party workers so that they can protest following the SOPs. He said that APC will decide the future course of political activities in the country.

Chairman PPP said that his party has been fighting the dictatorship. He said PPP demands to decide the case of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He said that when the court gives verdict supporting democracy then it is praised and whenever such decisions like the recent one will be made, we will support it. PPP is with the constitution from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s time till today. He said that opposing the 18th amendment, amounts to opposing the constitution.

Responding to another question, he said that when PPP took over government in 2008, terrorism was at its peak, we were experiencing global recession and we faced two floods.

During our tenure, we completed operation in Swat and South Waziristan against terrorists successfully. Our stance is that we want a democratic and people’s Pakistan. He said that

PPP has given a lot to the country. When the country was divided in 1971 PPP gave the 1973 constitution and united the country. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto struggled for restoration of constitution which was disfigured by Zia ul Haq.

Zardari restored the constitution in its original form and now that constitution will be protected by the PPP. He said that protecting the 1973 constitution is the responsibility of every institution in the country including the military and judiciary.

He said that if Senate elections are rigged like before then the country will be out of control and Pakistan will be at loss, he concluded.