Shehbaz for formation of parliamentary body on NAB chairman's video clips matter

ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif Monday said a parliamentary body of opposition parties should be formed to look into the matter of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman’s controversial video clips.

Speaking at the floor of the lower house, he said the video clips were a serious issue and needed immediate attention of the house and explanation from the NAB chairman.

Referring to a reported interview of NAB chairman appeared in a two-episode column in Urdu newspaper, Shehbaz rejected that neither he met the NAB chairman, nor he offered any deal to avoid the cases.

He said similar allegations had also been leveled against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians. Witch-hunt in the name of accountability would not be accepted, he added.

He said the NAB chairman should be summoned and asked for explanation on the issues.

The opposition leader also criticized the government over a reference filed in the Supreme Judicial Council, saying that he would not go into its detail but the way the reference had been filed was not appropriate.

He regretted that there was no mention of Kashmir in the declaration issued after the meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Saudi Arabia.

He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz during its tenure added around 11,500 MW additional electricity in the national grid and resolved the load-shedding issue to great extent. Now the electricity supply situation was improved even in these hot weather conditions, he added.

He said the PML-N government initiated China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and managed soft loans, which now the government members were also acknowledging on various forums.

The opposition leader said he went abroad for follow-up treatment as he was diagnosed with cancer during his forced exile adding he got initial treatment from United States and United Kingdom, so follow-up treatment was also necessary from abroad.

Shehbaz requested the speaker to issue production orders for Asif Ali Zardari and Khawaja Saad Rafique.

Earlier, Shazia Marri of PPP asked the speaker to issue production order of PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

"Zardari is a member of this august house and a former president," she said and added, "The members look towards the speaker for the protection of rights of MNAs as he is the custodian of the house."

Interior Minister Brigadier (Retd) Ijaz Ahmed Shah said the government had nothing to do with Asif Ali Zardari's arrest, adding the arrest had been made after his bail plea rejection in a money laundering case on court order.