Government-judiciary standoff: Nawaz to chair parliamentary party meeting on Monday

The newly elected president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, would chair an important meeting of PML-N's parliamentary party to be held in the Parliament House ahead of the National Assembly's session on Monday to devise future course of action of his party regarding the ongoing government-judiciary stand-off, said Ahsan Iqbal, PML-N's additional secretary general here on Friday.
Nawaz Sharif, who was elected as party's president on Wednesday, would chair the meeting for the first time being held at Parliament House during the last three years. Ahsan, while addressing a news conference, strongly criticised the government for what he said protecting corruption and resorting to confrontation with judiciary, calling upon the masses, civil society, political workers and lawyers' fraternity to be prepared for a decisive movement.
He levelled serious allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his government, saying the incumbent government was deliberately confronting judiciary to protect its 'corruption'. He said that PML-N would strongly oppose all such 'undemocratic' practices leading to undermine the independence of the judiciary, adding that PML-N's President Nawaz Sharif would chair party's parliamentary committee meeting, wherein he would also announce the party's future course of action pertaining to the current government-judiciary stand-off.
"Even the PPP's lawmakers are of the view that Prime Minister Gilani has an 'MBBS' degree of corruption", Ahsan claimed, adding the government has been trying to block the process of accountability for the last three years. He further said that the 'incompetence and corruption' of the government has become a threat to the country's economy.
"All the institutions of accountability have been made dysfunctional one by one so as to protect corruption," he claimed, adding under a well-planned conspiracy the only institution-National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been made dysfunctional by negating the judgements of the apex court to appoint its chief with consensus.
He further said that the proposed accountability bill was being delayed deliberately despite the fact that PPP had made a commitment with PML-N in Charter of Democracy to form an independent acceptability commission. He alleged that the government wanted to use civil bureaucracy as shield and make it as scapegoats for saving its corruption. He, however, called upon the civil services and administration not to become part of the 'game' and also assured judicial movement like support of the political parties and civil society.
Referring to reluctance of the government to implement the apex court's judgements, Ahsan said that the present government also made the FIA dysfunctional to obstruct the investigation in Hajj scam and NICL case. He further said that an effort was made to influence the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by appointing auditor general of their own will. To a question, Ahsan said that it was nothing to do with the upcoming Senate election and if the PPP government was to be ousted it would be due to its 'misdeeds'. He said that the next general elections would a 'referendum' in which the people have to decide whether to vote the corrupt rulers or elect the honest politician to make the country corruption-free.