PPP, PML-N to blame themselves for what Nawaz, Zardari facing today

ISLAMABAD: After Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari’s arrest may further aggravate PPP-PML-N’s anger against the ruling PTI but facts show that these two leading opposition parties are mainly responsible for what their leaders are facing today.

The opposition alleges that the NAB under Justice (R) Javed Iqbal is targeting the PPP and PML-N because of pressure from Prime Minister Imran Khan. However, the fact is that the NAB Chairman Javed Iqbal was appointed during the last PML-N tenure only after the retired judge’s nomination was informally cleared by both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari.

Formally, Javed Iqbal’s appointment was made after the consultation between the then PML-N Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah of PPP. The PTI, which was then sitting in the opposition benches, was not involved in any manner in the appointment of Justice (R) Javed Iqbal as NAB Chairman.

Nawaz Sharif is in jail because of his conviction in Al-Azizia case, which was referred to NAB by the Supreme Court in Panama case judgment during the last tenure of PML-N and when Nawaz was himself the Prime Minister.

Asif Ali Zardari, who was arrested on Monday by NAB after the Islamabad High Court rejected his bail application, is an accused on fake account case, which was initiated by the FIA during the PML-N tenure and referred to the NAB by the apex court for probe and prosecution. So the cases, which landed both Sharif and Zardari behind the bars, were initiated before even the coming into power of the PTI.

The PPP and PML-N raise hue and cry against what the NAB is doing against their leaders. These parties accused the NAB of being used for “political victimisation” of the opposition parties and their leaders. They also dub the NAB law draconian and charge the NAB chairman of selective accountability while using his discretionary powers.

The fact is that both the PPP and PML-N have been protesting even during General Musharraf’s rule, when the NAB was established, that the NAB law was draconian and was made to target the PPP and PML-N leaders. They have been saying the NAB under Musharraf made politically motivated cases against their leaders.

For the same reason, the PPP and PML-N had committed in the Charter of Democracy, signed in London in May 2006, that the NAB Ordinance 1999 will be repealed. It was also pledged that NAB will be replaced by an Independent Accountability Commission.

In the CoD, it was committed, “To replace politically motivated NAB with an independent accountability commission, whose chairman shall be nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of opposition and confirmed by a joint parliamentary committee with 50 percent members from treasury benches and remaining 50 percent from opposition parties in same manner as appointment of judges through transparent public hearing. The confirmed nominee shall meet the standard of political impartiality, judicial propriety, moderate views expressed through his judgements and would have not dealt.”

But the fact is that the NAB with all its draconian powers as were introduced during Musharraf tenure, continued as such during the last tenures of PPP and PML-N. Neither the PPP, which ruled from 2008 to 2013, nor the PML-N, whose tenure was 2013-2018, made any serious effort to repeal NAB law. Although both the governments set up parliamentary committees to change the NAB law, nothing concrete happened because both the government showed no keenness to even improve the NAB law. The effort has been to appoint a choice NAB chairman.

The NAB, during the PPP and PML-N tenures, made no serious effort to check corruption. Instead, innumerable high profile cases of corruption were either closed down or concluded in favour of influential accused because of “managed investigation” and “friendly prosecution” of the NAB.