- The policy can do a lot of harm
One thing common between the PTI and NAB is that neither cares to verify the facts before accusing a politician they do not like. As Shahbaz Sharif claimed in his speech in the NA yesterday, after Imran Khan made the false accusation that his children had invested in Turkey and China, NAB too had quizzed him over the issue. There is a need to ponder over the possible impact of such unverified charges on Pakistan’s relations with important allies. A few days back Fawad Chaudhary, PTI’s bull in a china shop, accused three friendly countries of letting Pakistan down by attaching unacceptable terms for loans sought by Islamabad thus pushing the country into the clutches of the IMF. The finance minister had to subsequently disown the irresponsible statement.
It was the first time in Pakistan’s history that the leader of the opposition in the NA was arrested. Speaker Asad Qaiser agreed to the opposition’s demand to convene a special sitting of the house and ordered the production of Shahbaz Sharif to enable him to attend the session. Gradually realising that it does not suit it now to heckle or enter into fights with its opponents PTI MNAs listened to the opposition’s criticism somewhat peacefully.
Speaking on the floor of the house, Shahbaz Sharif abstained from targeting the establishment or the judiciary. Instead he entirely focused on NAB and what he called the nexus between the accountability body and the PTI government accusing both of having entered into an unholy alliance against the opposition, particularly the PML-N.
The PPP which had kept itself aloof from the cases against the PML-N made a slight shift in its policy. Khursheed Shah called on Shahbaz Sharif in his chamber soon after the latter’s arrival, a gesture acknowledged by Sharif who thanked Bilawal in his address. While the main burden of Shah’s speech was the negative impact of the government’s economic policies on the common man, he briefly touched upon the way NAB was being manipulated to pressurise the politicians. Calling the action a political revenge, Shah maintained that there was no need to arrest Sharif who was not going to abscond.
