LAHORE: The Sharifs are still undecided about whether or not to absolutely boycott National Accountability Bureau’s proceedings in the references the anti-graft watchdog is going to frame against them.

“We haven’t yet made our mind on absolute boycott of the NAB proceedings,” Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq said.

“As far as the current situation is concerned we don’t think that joining NAB investigations by our leader will be fruitful.”

He was speaking at a joint press conference with the Sharifs’ counsel for NAB cases, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan after attending a marathon consultation on the issue at the Raiwind residence of disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid had also arrived here from Islamabad to join the consultation.

Asked if the Sharifs would accept the likely results of the NAB references, Mr Rafiq said it could not be stated yet and rather any decision would be taken at an appropriate time.

Asked if any penalty imposed by the NAB court in absentia would be accepted in the wake of reports that Mr Sharif was also going to attend to his ailing wife in London while his sons were already abroad, he said it’s not the first time that the PML-N leadership had been disqualified or given a life term and incarcerated in the Attock Fort.

Rana Sanaullah said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz did not expect a fair trial when procedure and results of it had already been decided and the proceedings were being held only as eyewash.

He argued that denying Mr Sharif fair trial meant denying this right to tens of millions of voters who considered the former prime minister their leader.

He announced making public all “deviations” from fair trial procedure not as a protest but to win justice for the former party chief.

In reply to a question about whom the PML-N was targeting by alleging conspiracy in the ouster of Mr Sharif, the railways minister said the party never directly or indirectly hinted at involvement of the army chief in the “conspiracy” as it held Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in high esteem.

Mr Sana said that those used for the conspiracy were already known to the public.

Earlier, Mr Pervaiz explained the legal points pertaining to the basic rights the PML-N thought were affected because of the Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017