ISLAMABAD: The main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has submitted a resolution to the National Assembly Secretariat calling for removal of the recently-appointed National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president Saeed Ahmed for his alleged involvement in money laundering.

Through the resolution, the PPP members have claimed that because Saeed Ahmed has played an important role in the alleged money laundering carried out by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, he does not deserve to hold such an important position.

Prime Minister Sharif appointed Ahmad as the NBP president in March. Previously he had been serving as deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan since January 21, 2014.

Saeed Ahmed played an important role in sending money abroad for Sharif family, says document

“This house strongly recommends that NBP president Saeed Ahmed should immediately be sacked for doing money laundering for the Sharif family members. This man had an important role in shifting the capital abroad through illegal channels for the Sharif family,” says the resolution that carries the signatures of nine PPP members, including the parliamentary leader of the party in the National Assembly, Syed Naveed Qamar.

“This house calls upon the government that Saeed Ahmed is ineligible to hold any office of the government of Pakistan, and he should immediately be sacked from the office of the NBP president,” adds the resolution.

Besides Qamar, the resolution has been signed by Shazia Marri, Dr Nafeesa Shah, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Makhdoom Mustafa Mehmood, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuhu, Shazia Sobia Soomro and Shahida Rehmani.

The NBP president was among those important figures who had been summoned by the Supreme Court-appointed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which probed money laundering charges levelled against the Sharif family.

Ahmad had appeared before the JIT reportedly after complaints were made by the investigators that he had not been cooperating with them.

Later, Ahmad submitted a complaint to the Supreme Court in which he accused the JIT of insulting and mistreating him.

In his application, he had explained that he was at the Federal Judicial Academy for a total of 12 hours, but a five-hour wait was very unnerving. The NBP chief had also tried to dispel the impression that he was reluctant to appear before the JIT.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2017