Rabbani says those who ride tiger will end up inside

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Tuesday rejected the NAB’s third amendment ordinance as ‘selective accountability’ while suspecting that this move to the pre-18th Amendment position with giving powers to president to remove NAB chairman and said that the NAB has now become an attached department of the Executive as its head can be removed by the Executive.

Through this Ordinance, he said the government has ensured that non transparent accountability of the opposition continues, while it has tried to protect its tracks, they fail to realise that those who ride the back of a tiger end up its inside.

“Are these sinister moves to revive the pre 18th Amendment position when the president shared powers and if so then what is the game plan,” asked former chairman Senate Senator Mian Raza Rabbani while rejecting the promulgation of the NAB’s third amendment ordinance.

Rabbani said the government through successive legislation is giving a role to the president which is not envisaged under the Constitution 1973. “The independence of the NAB chairman has been seriously compromised by the third amendment ordinance, issued by the government, the president can now remove him,” he said.

Rabbani said the office of the NAB chairman even otherwise, without any legal means, has been misused for political engineering. He said replacing of the Supreme Judicial Council by the president for the removal of the NAB chairman, shows, the lack of respect for institutional procedures, transparency and defanging the judicial organ of the state.

The former Senate chairman said there is no security of tenure, the NAB chairman will now serve as long as he lets the puppeteer manipulate him against the opposition.

In the meanwhile, Parliamentary leader of the PPP in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman also rejected the NAB’s third amendment ordinance and said this is the 3rd time in a month that the NAB ordinance has been amended directly by the ordinance factory, completely bypassing Parliament. She said making selective laws to protect their cronies while “accountability” is reserved for political rivals in opposition. Not one but two Pakistan,” she said.

Sherry Rehman said the promulgation of NAB’s third amendment ordinance is an evidence of the government's malice. “The Opposition are demanding justice, not relief,” she said.

She said this NAB ordinance was to provide relief to the government and to target the opposition. “Why is the NAB silent on corruption and fraud cases of this government,” she asked.

The PPP vice president questioned that NAB has not arrested those who were named in BRT, Sugar Scandal, Billion Tree Scandal, LNG and other cases. “The Cabinet and prime minister's friends get exemption from NAB,” she said.

Sherry Rehman said the government is on the same page with the NAB, not with the security agencies. She said former president Asif Ali Zardari has never sought relief from dictators then why he will seek from this selected government.