Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on Tuesday welcomed Army Chief General Raheel Sharif’s statement in which he has called for “across-the-board accountability” and elimination of corruption for a prosperous Pakistan, but said that all institutions, including the army, should be held accountable in the process.
Expressing his opinion on the day’s major events in his talkshow DNA on Channel 24, Nizami said corruption cannot be eliminated from the Pakistani society as this evil is deeply rooted in every department.
Nizami said that the army takes over every time on the pretext of uprooting corruption but then it shakes hand with the corrupt elements after coming into power. “Many people were demanding such a statement from the army chief in the wake of Panama Leaks and at last the powerful institution of the country has broken its silence by warning the corrupt elements,” he said.
Commenting on the return of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Nizami said that the PM decided to land in Islamabad instead of Lahore to give a message that he is back in the saddle to run the affairs of his government normally. “The charges against the PM’s family would not go away easily and would continue to haunt him in the years to come,” he said.
Revealing the inside account of PM Nawaz’s visit to London’s Churchill Hotel, Nizami said that he had learnt from a close confidant of PPP chief Asif Zardari that the former president was not present in the hotel when Nawaz visited the place. “Zardari deliberately avoided Sharif and the hard stance taken by Aitzaz Ahsan is actually the policy of Zardari,” he said, adding that PPP could get closer to the PTI in the days to come as Imran Khan is showing some maturity after returning from London.
Commenting on the proposed enquiry into the Panama Papers, Nizami said though the commission will be formed, it would remain unable to come up with something substantial and its findings would eventually be buried in history.
