Opp has no plan to hold talks with govt on NAB law: Ayaz Sadiq

ISLAMABAD: Former Speaker and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has said that the opposition had no plan to hold any parleys with the government on bringing about amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.

“We have suffered to the maximum because of this statute and now it is the turn of the government leaders to face the draconian law. We know they are scared of the day when they will be arraigned under it. Therefore, they want to alter it now,” the former Speaker told The News.

Ayaz Sadiq believed that the speaker seemed to want to break the deadlock but the opposition has no faith in him mainly because he was handicapped and helpless to take any decision.

“When the prime minister vetoes what is agreed with the opposition by government representatives during talks, there can be no productive parleys. Therefore, it is prudent that such a process should not be started at all. A more plausible option is that the prime minister should directly speak to the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif, to launch the dialogue,” he said.

Ayaz Sadiq said as per its decision, the opposition has no plan to attend any meeting convened by the speaker to debate the government’s agenda of legislation. To start with, Asad Qaisar should restore the confidence of his office with the opposition otherwise all of his efforts will remain fruitless and in vain, he added.

PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said it was the considered decision of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that they would not be part of any dialogue process or committee presided over by the speaker.

Ayaz Sadiq said that there was a time when he and Khawaja Asif were holding talks with the government but they abandoned the process after 18 months because of the scandalous behaviour of the other side. Later, he said the job was assigned to former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who also has no inclination to trust the official side because of its attitude.

Taking an initiative for any kind of talks, he said, is always the responsibility of the government, which in the present case doesn’t possess the requisite sincerity and seriousness. Its leaders only believe in issuing statements day in and day out without any worthwhile follow-up, he claimed.

Ayaz Sadiq recommended that some “dignified” persons, who could ensure that whatever was agreed would be implemented, should take charge of any negotiations from the government side. If ‘spoilers’ are inducted in such a team, the exercise will be futile, he said.

When the allegation that the opposition is insistent on squeezing an NRO [amnesty] for its ‘corrupt leaders’ from the government is repeated after any kind of talks, no process could be started, the former speaker said. “We had suggested amendments in the NAB law only after being asked by the government courtesy of the speaker. These proposals had been projected umpteen times in talk shows by cabinet members to paint the opposition black in the public view. Such an approach has to be abandoned. It had been claimed that the opposition wanted the NRO in exchange for its support to the laws specific to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). But it is a fact that the opposition extended support to the FATF legislation without the alleged NRO and it was because of this backing that these laws were passed by the parliament.”