Imran ‘yearning’ to see me behind bars, says Shahbaz

Ag Agencies

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif said on Wednesday although Prime Minister Imran Khan was “yearning” to see him “go to jail”, it was what he considered “a small price to pay” in the service of the nation.

His comments came soon after Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar told the media that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a money laundering reference of more than seven billion rupees against Shahbaz Sharif and his children in a Lahore NAB court.

Shahbaz, at a news conference warned in the event he went to jail, his fellow party members would bring forth “the entire project”. “If I remain free, I will bring it to light,” he added.

“We never kicked up a fuss over it before but we will address this now and are preparing a plan of action,” the PML-N president said, referring to the government’s accusations against various members of the party, pertaining to corruption and misuse of power, besides a litany of other charges. Shahbaz made no other mention of the nature of the revelations he plans to “bring forth”.

Shahbaz said he and party supremo Nawaz Sharif “stand by Pakistan” and would play their role to “get the country back on track”. “We have struggled in the past and will continue to do so. Even if we have to go to jail we will, it is not a big price to pay,” he added.

“Two years have passed and Pakistan’s people are disappointed and have had it with this selected government,” Shahbaz said, adding: “The writing is on the wall over what good they have actually done us.”

The opposition leader said the government representatives “are only busy in hiding their scandals [...] their foreign funding account is an open and shut case”.

“If the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) brings the facts forth, the Prime Minister will not be prime minister for even one second,” he claimed. Shahbaz said despite the passage of “years”, a verdict in the matter had not been announced.

“I want to say that they have levelled baseless accusations on PML-N and sought to get their revenge but they have still not had their fill. The NAB-Niazi nexus has broken all records of filing cases against us,” said the PML-N leader.

He said “the whole nation knows the truth” behind the narcotics probe against PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah. “On the other hand, no one is ready to talk about Aleema Baji’s assets abroad. She comes with protocol to the FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) office.” He asked why there was no probe into the Malam Jabba case and what happened to the “helicopter” inquiry.

Earlier in the day, PM’s aide Shahzad Akbar at a news conference said opposition parties wanted a “Truth Commission” but they should answer about the allegations of corruption and money laundering. He claimed Shahbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Salman were involved in money laundering and fake accounts.

He said the financial monitoring unit found out “177 suspicious transactions” of the family of Shahbaz Sharif and the NAB started the investigation in that regard. The reference comprised 55 volumes and 25,000 pages of documentary evidence including company records, bank statements and foreign remittances.

All the record was compiled after a detailed investigation by the NAB teams which nominated 16 accused in the reference on six family members and 10 employees. Four of the accused had turned approvers and they disclosed their role in the money laundering of the Sharif family members, he said.