TI report on 'corruption in public offices': PML-Q urges Chief Justice to take suo motu notice

Reacting to the report of Transparency International, PML-Q on Wednesday urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice against the corruption in public offices and constitute a judicial commission to probe the matter.
Addressing a press conference, parliamentary leader of PML-Q Faisal Saleh Hayat said eversince the formation of the PPP-led federal government on March 28, 2009, it has done nothing but looting and hoodwinking the poor masses. Flanked by Marvi Memon and Deputy Secretary Information Mustafa Malik, Faisal said nowadays Mafias are ruling the country. He said his party raised the issue of corruption in the National Assembly, but the ruling party paid no heed to it.
Even the Prime Minister never bothered to answer or defend his leadership and the Cabinet against corruption charges, he added. "The Prime Minister once said the Public Accounts Committee is a platform for accountability. It is ironical that he does not know that the accountability was not the mandate of the committee," Faisal said.
He urged PML-N leadership to raise the issues of public interest at all levels along with other opposition parties. He said the PPP government was busy in distributing lucrative jobs among its workers, which is extreme favouritism. "Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin has also admitted that Rs 500 billion corruption was recorded in the FBR every year," Faisal said.
He alleged that 12 to 16 million dollars were wrongly invested in National Insurance. Talking about the Transparency International report, he said that when PML-Q was in power, PPP used to quote TI reports and now it was rejecting these reports and instead accusing TI of hatching conspiracies against the PPP government.
He said three institutions including Pepco, KESC and newly introduced rental power project were highlighted in the report for alleged corruption. Commenting on the accountability bill, he said the bill, which the government wants to bring in, would not curb corruption, adding that PML-Q is presenting itself for accountability but the government should start it from 1999.
To a query, Faisal said when Pervez Musharraf signed the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), his party was not taken into confidence. He added that the ordinance was discussed in the Cabinet meeting and was rejected but President Musharraf later promulgated it. He also appreciated media for introducing a code of ethics for itself and said that politicians should also prepare a code of ethics for themselves.