PPP leaders bash govt for placing Bilawal, Shah’s names on ECL

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–Bilawal’s spokesperson says JIT probing fake accounts case has lost its credibility after SC’s decision

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday criticised the government’s move to place names of party leaders, including Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, on the Exit Control List (ECL) and said that it was “ill-intentioned”.

While talking to the media in Karachi, CM’s Adviser on Information, Law and Anti-Corruption Murtaza Wahab said, “We did not ask for any immunity. The PPP has always respected courts and decisions. Our leadership is appearing before the court.”

“Today, the court also rejected the allegations and forwarded the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” he further said, adding that “the court agreed that it was wrong to place Bilawal and CM Shah’s names on the ECL.”

Taking a hit at the federal government, Wahab said, “Tehreek-e-Inteqaam (movement of revenge) should focus on the country’s affairs and leave political revenge. Tactics of conspiring elements will no longer work.”

Meanwhile, former provincial minister Nisar Khuhro while speaking to the media outside a banking court in Karachi said, “We are facing cases and we cannot travel as our passports are with the Interior Ministry. It was the government’s ill-intentions owing to which we were placed on ECL despite not having our passports.”

“If someone had not appeared for a proceeding then their name should have been included in the no-fly list,” he added.

Similarly, PPP leader Nafisa Shah said, “The JIT report is a secret which is being widely shared on WhatsApp. They showed such efficiency that a JIT was formed within six months and it even presented its report while FIA could not present its report in the Asghar Khan case for years.”

‘JIT HAS LOST ITS CREDIBILITY’:

Separately, PPP chief’s spokesperson Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the fake accounts case has lost its credibility after the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision.

Earlier, SC had directed the removal of Bilawal and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s names from ECL besides deleting their name from the JIT report.

Reacting to this decision, Khokhar said, “We were saying from the very first day that JIT is politically motivated and it has lost its credibility in the wake of SC’s decision. The apex court has declared inclusion of names of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Syed Murad Ali Shah as malafide intent.”

He asked the federal cabinet to tender an apology for placing the names of Bilawal and Murad on ECL. “Those who had demanded the resignation of Murad should resign now,” he concluded.