- Parliamentary party gives a warm welcome to party supremo upon arrival
- Nawaz believes court to listen his apprehensions over controversial JIT report
- PM likely to take JUI-F, PkMAP, other allied parties into confidence on Monday
- Chaudhry Nisar could not attend crucial meeting due to personal engagements
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the controversial report of the Joint Investigation Team on Panama Papers case was mere a pack of accusations by opponents and lacked any substantive evidence.
“Not a single sentence of the JIT report gives a clue that Nawaz Sharif is guilty of corruption,” he said in his capacity as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N while chairing its parliamentary party meeting here at the PM Office. However, he expressed confidence that the court would listen to his apprehensions regarding the JIT report.
The party members gave a warm welcome to Nawaz Sharif on his arrival to chair the meeting. They gave a big round of applause and thumped desks. The prime minister has also decided to take allied parties into confidence on the current scenario. He will meet elected representatives of the JUI-F, National Party, PML-Z, BNP, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, FATA lawmakers and other small groups on Monday.
Addressing the party meeting, Nawaz categorically said that he had a clean conscience and would not resign on the demands of those who were rejected by the masses not once, but several times. He thanked the nation and his party members for standing with him with full unity and devotion. He said that the report only targeted his family’s 62 years of business matters through allegations, accusations and source reports.
“Mention, if you know even a minuscule corruption case against me during my five tenures of the government or against Shehbaz Sharif’s tenures,” he stressed. He said that none of the contracts and tenders relating his hundreds of the projects were blemished with commissions, kick-backs or corruption.
He said an uncalled-for campaign was launched following his success in 2013 general election, including the sit-in. “Now this is the third attack, but Almighty Allah is with us and so our nation,” he said. He regretted that elements favouring political instability and uncertainty were proving detrimental for the country.
He said that the stock market was in a plunge due to present circumstances that earlier touched the record bullish trend of 54,000 points. He said that in the past as well, he braved all challenges put against him and remained steadfast to his stance and ideology. “Even I did not lose heart when declared ineligible to contest election and nor bowed before the dictatorship of General Pervez Musharraf,” he added.
Nawaz said that he did a long march for the restoration of judiciary risking his own life, whereas those claiming them as big leaders went underground. “I believe in democracy, rule of law and independence of the judiciary. The long march was a difficult mission but our sincerity ended in success by the grace of Almighty Allah,” he said.
He said that never in the country’s history, the power generation projects were initiated at such large scale. “Who will hold accountable those who forced the country into the age of darkness owing to power outages,” he said, referring to the previous government not paying heed to the severe electricity crisis. “While installing three power plants only, we saved Rs 168 billion. Is this the norm of corrupt people,” he questioned.
He said that his government along with the military eliminated terrorism amid the news that terrorists were about to infiltrate the capital. “We broke the back of terror elements by hitting them right, improved Karachi’s law and order and attained stability in Balochistan,” he said. He said that the national economy was progressing well and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could rise above seven percent.
Before 2013, Pakistan was going to be declared as a failed state, however such scene was out of question at present, he recalled. “I feel sorry that once again efforts are being made to push the country on backwards, ruining our profound hard work done,” he said.
INP reported that Minister for Interior Affairs Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan remained absent from the meeting instead he opted to stay at the Interior Ministry. The minister did not attend the meeting due to his routine business. It may be mentioned here that Nisar had also expressed reservations over the JIT report at the cabinet meeting.
The meeting was called to ponder a strategy in response to the opposition’s calls for the prime minister’s resignation. At the start of the meeting, legal experts, including Adviser Barrister Zafarullah, gave a briefing on the JIT report and the government’s potential response in the Supreme Court. The PML-N lawmakers reposed confidence in the prime minister, who has been under pressure from the opposition parties to resign from his post.
Earlier, Interior Ministry spokesperson said that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan did not walk out from the cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister. “We should avoid speculations and unrealistic comments with regard to the remarks of the interior minister during a cabinet meeting held on Thursday,” according to the statement.
The spokesperson said that Nisar could not attend the parliamentary party meeting of the PML-N leadership due to personal engagements and the minister has not attended such parliamentary party meetings in the past. “This aspect should not be wrongly interpreted. The minister will inform regarding his position in the next few days,” he said.
