Opposition moves NA against NAB official for holding ‘media trial’

ISLAMABAD: A day after a senior official of National Accountability Bureau made TV appearances and leveled allegations, the opposition parties moved a privilege motion in the National Assembly on Friday.

Citing a breach of the privilege of the members of the opposition in the NA, the motion objects to the “media trial” of the opposition members and urges “immediate intervention” of the House.

A privilege motion was submitted by the opposition parties on Friday to the National Assembly Secretariat where a ‘media trial’ was brought to notice by National Accountability Bureau’s Lahore Director Genera Saleem Shehzad.

“We would like to raise a question of breach of the privilege of the members of the opposition of the National Assembly in accordance with Rule 95 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly, 2007,” read the motion.

It further mentioned that Shehzad had given interviews to various interviews on multiple private news channels where he breached the confidential matters of the bureau’s secretive documents and tainted the reputation of parliament members.

It went on to allege that Shehzad had “conducted the media trial of opposition members , attempted to influence the so-called cases against the members of the National Assembly, provided details of the matters that are sub-judice, revealed details of confidential and secret NAB documents and maligned the reputation of the members of the Parliament.”