PTI using NAB as a weapon against opposition: PPP

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leaders on Thursday lashed out at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for what they claimed “propaganda against their leadership.”

The recent political strife came as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) summoned PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for interrogation in the JV Opal-225 case on Thursday at the bureau’s headquarters in Rawalpindi.

PPP leaders including Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sherry Rehman and Nayyar Bukhari spoke to the media, and asserted that the NAB could not prove anything before and same would be the case now.

“PPP is not afraid of these summons, but holds respect for the courts,” Sherry said, adding that the party has maintained good relations with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

About the state’s economy, Sherry stated that the government claims to resolve the economic crisis by extracting gold from the Reko Diq Mine. “The government shouldn’t make a mockery of the general public.”

Kaira too criticised the government, and claimed that the PTI’s coalition partners have been abandoning the ruling party’s support “slowly”.

“Mr. Shahzad Akbar! Where are you hiding? Where does your claim stand now?” he questioned.

“Despite of differences with the courts, we have kept appearing (during hearings of the cases) (…) we are not obliged to respond to someone’s wishes.”

Kaira claimed that the PTI’s government has used the NAB as a “weapon” while the courts have been ruling that the accountability watchdog “is unprepared”.

For the latest rules the government has intended to control the social media, Kaira affirmed that the government “must hold its brigade using abusive language”.

“At first, you (the government) put restrictions on the media, and now you want to put an end to (using) social media (freely),” he added.

“Cracks are visible within the ruling party, and now it is bound to go as administrative and economic crisis is aggravating.” Kaira further pointed out that the government has been losing its popularity rapidly.

Furthermore, Bukhari asserted that the party had faced malicious cases in the past, and would face them now as well. “A propaganda campaign is ongoing against our party’s leadership from the last two years.”