Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Sunday refused to be part of any move by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe into the Asghar Khan case, demanding the constitution of an independent commission for the purpose.
However, the party said in accepted the decision of the Supreme Court in the case in its true essence. Flanked by PML-N leaders Mushahidullah Khan and Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry at a press conference at Punjab House, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Nisar Ali Khan said ever since the passage of the verdict by the Supreme Court, all guns had been trained at the PML-N. Clarifying, Nisar said the Asghar Khan case was not about the PML-N but a coalition of eight political parties called the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), which was randomly headed by several leaders, including Nawaz Sharif.“The Supreme Court has mentioned that an amount of Rs 60 million had been distributed among politicians, but complete details of the distributed amount have not been furnished yet, so it would be too early to criticise the PML-N over the issue,” he said.
He was of the view that those politicians who could not win the mandate of the people because of their performance were trying to hurl up a storm with the Asghar Khan case. Demanding authorities concerned to constitute an independent commission to probe into the case, Nisar said none of his party leadership would appear before the FIA in this connection.
“The FIA under Interior Minister Rehman Malik is being used for protecting the corrupt and that is reflected in the NICL and Haj scams’ investigations. How can it conduct a transparent investigation in the Asghar Khan case?” He also demanded the constitution of a “truth and reconciliation commission” as agreed in the Charter of Democracy (COD) to avoid media trials of political parties. Criticising President Asif Ali Zardari, the opposition leader said the Presidency was misusing its powers and funds more than the Presidency that doled out money to politicians in 1993.
He was of the view that the whole episode started when former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto constituted a political cell in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that became functional under the Ziaul Haq Regime and its recent act was under General Pasha’s tenure when it distributed billions of rupees from secret funds and public money to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The PML-N leader said during Musharraf’s regime, billions of rupees were distributed among PML-Q leaders and the same was admitted by the former dictator in his book. “We are ready for accountability, but will not appear before the FIA,” Nisar reiterated.
Criticising PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, he said the PM should read the Supreme Court order against him in the RPPs case before pointing fingers at others. Calling it a great opportunity to end involvement of agencies in national politics and to remove garbage from Pakistani politics, he demanded everything should be out in the open and the nation should be informed about the corrupt elements and the institutions to block their way into politics forever. To a question, the PML-N leader said there existed only allegations of corruption at the moment without any solid proof and the real trial would begin after a thorough investigation into the issue.
PML-N rejects probe into funds’ doling by FIA
