Nawaz Sharif fled abroad feigning illness: Shibli Faraz

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz Friday said the opposition would be responsible if Pakistan slipped into the black list, as it was bound to support the FATF-related legislation as a national obligation.

Speaking at a news conference here, the minister said the opposition was trying to blackmail the government on the issue to cover up its corruption. He asserted that the opposition would not be doing any favour to the government but discharging its duty towards Pakistan.

He pointed out that still there were four-five FATF-related legislative pieces to be adopted by the legislatures for which the opposition support was imperative. He explained that things would get tougher for the public in case Pakistan was placed on the black list, having very serious economic repercussions as well.

The minister emphasised that the government would use all available legal options for bringing Nawaz Sharif back from London to face cases in courts. In this connection, he said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would be asked to write to the British government through the Foreign Office for his extradition. Shibli said Nawaz Sharif had gone to England on six-month bail on medical grounds given on human considerations.

He said the medical documents presented in the court before bail were fudged and an impression was given that he was seriously ill but when he reached London, he did not even bother to have an X-ray what to speak of any medical treatment.

The minister pointed out that when the appeal was filed for extension of his bail, the Punjab government asked them to provide a medical report but they failed to produce any medical report to justify extension in bail.

He said now time had come that Nawaz Sharif, who made fun of the judicial system by misleading courts, should return home and face the pending cases. “If Nawaz Sharif is innocent, then why he is running away from the law and courts,” he remarked.

Shibli said instead of getting medical treatment, Nawaz resumed political activities from London and having telephonic contacts with Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He said the courts would decide the pending cases against Nawaz Sharif but it was government’s responsibility to facilitate them in presenting the accused in the court.

On the issue of FATF legislation, Shibli said the opposition was trying to blackmail the government and get concessions in cases of corruption in return for voting in favour of required legislation but the PTI government will never be blackmailed.

He said the opposition was giving more importance to personal interests than national interests. He said the opposition wanted to change the interpretation of corruption and abolish the National Accountability Bureau for personal benefits.

The minister contended that the main difference between the present and past governments was that they worked for protection of personal interests whereas Imran Khan was keeping national interests supreme.

He said they were trying to cash in on the issue of legislation on FATF to get personal benefits by trying to blackmail the government. However, he made it clear that Imran Khan had no personal enmity towards anyone and was only trying to bring the looted money back and provide relief to the masses by reducing the prices of daily use items and petroleum, electricity tariffs.

He said in the past such people were appointed in the regulatory institutions who could facilitate the rulers in the loot and plunder of the former rulers and money laundering was one of the issues.

India, he pointed out, had been trying to damage Pakistan's national interests and it succeeded in putting Pakistan on the grey list and in October a final decision would be made either to remove Pakistan from the grey list or put it on the black list.

He said if Pakistan was put on the black list, the country's economy would be badly affected as international banks would stop giving any loans on normal conditions and facilities for traders and foreign investment would stop. Pakistan's currency, he continued, would devalue and prices of petroleum products power tariffs and daily use items would shoot up and the masses would suffer.

The minister said the opposition did not even spare the government on the coronavirus situation and demanded complete lockdown. He said Imran Khan had the strategy of saving lives and livelihood of poor people and adopted the strategy of smart lockdown of the affected areas.

He said by the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan to a great extent had succeeded in controlling the pandemic and this was the outcome of the good and noble intentions of the leadership.

He said the opposition also damaged the Kashmir cause as after Imran Khan's historic speech in the UN General Assembly last year, Fazlur Rehman started a sit-in to divert attention from the Kashmir issue.

Shibli challenged Nawaz to return and get himself clear from the courts if he had done nothing wrong. “Is not it obligatory for a person, whom masses had elected prime minister thrice to submit before the law.

“If he has done no wrong, then why has he fled the country by producing fudged reports? How will you produce documents regarding your property, which you could not in six years,” he asserted.

Replying to a question, he said if Maryam Nawaz was a leader on the basis of political (family) hierarchy, then he should also be a great poet being the son of Ahmad Faraz. The minister asserted that the era of attacking the Supreme Court and subjugating the state institutions was over and Maryam must give answers to questions about her 1,100-kanal land or whatever instead of staging drama and pelting NAB with stones and attacking it.

“When out of power, they are like fish without water,” he quipped. Referring to the FATF-related legislation, he again emphasized that if the opposition stuck to its guns of getting an NRO, which the government would never give, then it would tantamount to enmity with the country responsibility for which would be upon the opposition.

As redemption for their sins, the minister suggested, they should vote for the proposed legislation and bring back their looted wealth to Pakistan. “But from day one, they have been going against the government. “Whenever pressure on them increases, they start talking about APCs and agitation. However, these tactics would not work now. The FATF final assessment was long due but due to the coronavirus, more time was made available,” he noted.

The minister said the PML-N government had played havoc with the economy and one instance was of Dar keeping artificial exchange rate of dollar by doling out dollars 6 billion annually and this also badly hurt industry, leading to de-industrialisation.

He also talked of the costly power agreements, which resulted in high power tariff and price hike of essential commodities. He said putting aside political affiliation, one must understand that the rulers became richer and built properties abroad and Nawaz Sharif fled the country on the basis of a medical report and was seen doing shopping and enjoying coffee but failed to produce a document regarding his Avenfield apartments. “Nawaz made fun of the country’s laws by faking an illness,” he charged. On the contrary, despite having never been in the government, Imran Khan produced four-decade old record to get a clean chit from the courts and the title of sadiq and ameen.