October 08, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 25, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 7: The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) will benefit only five Pakistan People’s Party leaders while a majority of its beneficiaries belongs to other parties, says PPP Senator Dr Babar Awan.

At a press conference here on Sunday at the Press Club, he said seven people from Sharif family, five from PML-N, two from the MMA, including a close relative of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, would also be among the beneficiaries of the ordinance.

Flanked by former provincial information secretary Naveed Chaudhry, he said two MQM members and 31 from PML-Q, including federal ministers, parliamentary secretaries, MNAs, MPAs, besides some former federal secretaries, would also benefit from the ordinance.

He said the list of beneficiaries also included former chairman of the Central Board of Revenue, five heads of different banks, some members of Leghari family, including Farida Leghari, Awais Leghari, his wife and three nieces of Mr Farooq Leghari - the former president.

He said several cases were lodged against PPP members and references were sent to the National Accountability Bureau in the last 11 years but none of them had been proven in the court. The list of these references included the KESC reference, the PIA reference, the Karachi Steel Mills reference, the SJS reference and the suicide case against Asif Zardari, he added.

He said the PPP had contested election against the officially-sponsored Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and it would again fight those backed by the government in the forthcoming elections. “The party sat with those who were behind the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto just for the restoration of democracy. When the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy was formed, Nawaz Sharif, along with his family, had left Pakistan after getting indemnity from the government.”

Awan said it was the PPP’s struggle which forced Gen Musharraf to decide doffing his uniform and added the heirs to Gen Zia had started a mala fide campaign against the party for their own interests.

He said the exemption from arrests for political leaders was only in NAB cases and in NRO the orders of Supreme Court were obeyed while eliminating the punishment in absentia.