Delay in sugar inquiry report ‘admission of guilt’ by PM: Shehbaz Sharif

F.P. Report

LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has denounced the three-week delay in the release of the final report on the sugar crisis, saying that it is an “admission of guilt” on the part of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

His remarks on Sunday come a day after the inquiry commission tasked with probing with the sugar crisis has requested that a further three weeks be granted “for the submisison of a thorough report”.

The premier’s aide on accountability, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, had said that the request will be considered by the federal cabinet on Tuesday.

“The Cabinet, the Economic Coordination Committee, and all those who granted [the sugar mills] subsidies are responsible for this crisis,” said Sharif, in his scathing remarks today.

“Imran Khan Niazi and Usman Buzdar are behind all the decisions,” added Sharif.

He said that the delay in the report’s release is “evidence of the Rs100bn robbery committed by the government” and was an attempt to protect the identities of the actual ones responsible for the “sugar theft”.

“Concealing the findings of the sugar inquiry report will not hide Imran Khan’s crime,” said the PML-N president.

Sharif said that the people “know full well who is behind the wheat and sugar shortages” in the country and the truth will not be hidden from them.

The opposition leader said there was “no further need of an inquiry or forensic audit”. “The inquiry commission is not fair in its dealings. The [economic coordination] committee members themselves are part of the inquiry committee,” he said.

He demanded that PML-N senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and party member Khurram Dastagir be allowed an audience with the inquiry commission.

“If our nominated members are allowed to give a statement, the facts will be separated from fiction,” said Sharif.

‘Politically relevant’

In response, the government’s chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan said that blaming the prime minister was an attempt by Sharif “to remain politically relevant”.

While addressing a news conference in Sialkot, Awan said that on the request of the inquiry commission, the matter of a three-week extension will be deliberated in a session of the Cabinet tomorrow.

She said that the commission’s purpose in asking for an extension was to “ensure transparency”.

“Mr Shehbaz Sharif, the greatest beneficiary over the last 10 years [from subsidies] is your son,” she said, addressing the opposition leader.

“No son, brother or any relative of the prime minister’s is involved in this scandal.”

Awan said that it was a peculiar case in the country’s history “how the uncle granted his nephew a subsidy and the father granted his son a subsidy”.

She vowed that the government remains steadfast in its resolve to enforce the rule of law in the land. “Imran Khan’s government will stand vindicated.”