Bilawal accuses PM Imran of blackmailing NAB

F.P. Report

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of resorting to blackmail the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bid to hinder accountability of the government officials.

Addressing a news conference in Larkana on Saturday, Bilawal said the premier had been exerting pressure on the anti-corruption watchdog for a while but no one expected him to stoop to blackmailing.

“I condemn his attempt to defame NAB … why only a single TV channel which is being run by the PM’s adviser and friend aired the news,” he remarked, adding that NAB law was a black law, promulgated by a dictator.

The PPP chairman said that just a single Iftar-dinner, he hosted for all prominent opposition leaders at his Islamabad residence last Sunday, was enough for the government to panic as “screams could now be heard coming out of the PM House”.

Speaking on the issue of recent hike in HIV-positive cases being reported from Ratodero, Bilawal said there was a difference between HIV and Aids. Contracting HIV can lead to the development of AIDS in 10 years, he explained.

“There is no HIV outbreak in Ratodero or Larkana … everyone should get themselves tested for HIV virus,” he maintained. The PPP chairman said that he had also directed the chief minister to establish an endowment fund to facilitate those affected by the virus.

Criticising the government, Bilawal said that masses were bearing the brunt of the rulers’ incompetence, adding that NABgradi (NAB activism) and FIA system were scaring away investors.

Earlier, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also hinted at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s possible role in a scandal surrounding audio-video clips of the NAB chairman’s alleged conversation with a woman and has called for a parliamentary inquiry.

“NAB chairman in a recent interview said he was being pressurised due to which he had to travel secretly. Javed Iqbal had said he had been forced not to take action against government’s corruption but had evidence that could derail the government,” PML-N’s Senior Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Friday.

He said the channel which aired the recording is owned by an adviser and friend of the prime minister.