Accountability will be useless if opposition's amendments in NAB law accepted: FM
Accountability will be useless if opposition's amendments in NAB law accepted: FM
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that if the demands of the opposition are accepted, the process of accountability will be useless but government will lay hands firmly on the corrupt elements.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while addressing a press conference said that the opposition cherishes its own interests and wants to cover up fourteen years of wrong doings. The opposition should listen and speak with patience and courage. The government should not be blackmailed on FATF laws, we are ready to discuss NAB rules.
He said that he would not repeat what was said in the parliament. Khawaja Asif blamed me for mockery. However, Imran Khan said for 22 years that we will clean the country from corruption and this is a firm stand. InshAllah, we will also crack down on corrupt elements, he added.
The Foreign Minister said that our intentions are clear. If the 34 amendments of the opposition are accepted, then the process of accountability will be useless. We believe in accountability without discrimination.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he requested the opposition for cooperation in the FATF laws but their willingness was conditional. We presented the draft to the opposition but they did not like it. The opposition was demanding 34 amendments to the NAB rules. The condition of the opposition was that if government wants to make laws on FATF, and then accept our amendments on NAB rules. He said that the meeting was boycotted by the opposition but the doors never close in politics.
He feared that India wanted to push Pakistan from the gray list to the blacklist. If we get blacklisted, global sanctions could be imposed which could have dire consequences.
Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant for Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar said that two major champions of corruption have emerged in the past. Along with the champion family of fake accounts, there is also a ‘TT’ family. Two grandchildren and a CM kept buying property for their wives on TT’s while a former president said that it has to prove that he went to the bank with ice cream seller.
"Getting out of the gray list was a challenge when we came into government," he said. We have to look for the reasons why Pakistan was put on the gray list. The previous government did not enact laws against money laundering and facilitation. Two families had a charter of corruption.
