LAHORE: In the strongest statement from a party which has so far been tagged as “friendly opposition”, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari has demanded immediate arrest of Nawaz Sharif and his family in the graft cases being heard by accountability courts.

“As there are serious cases of corruption against Nawaz Sharif and other family members, they should be taken into custody at the earliest,” said the person who took pride in the fact that there was no political prisoner in the country during his tenure as the president.

In a statement issued by the PPP’s media cell here on Friday, he said “the Sharifs should be made to undergo the accountability process like we had been made to pass through.”

Mr Zardari said the PPP leadership had suffered accountability by (former N Leaguer) Saifur Rehman’s Ehtesab Bureau but now the PML-N leaders were talking against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had a day ago termed NAB the most corrupt agency created by former dictator Musharraf for witch-hunting of politicians.

“If you’re a member of the House of Sharifs then you are bailed out within a day, while our people were released on bail after two and half years,” the ex-president said, pointing to the different treatment meted out to Marym Nawaz’s husband retired Capt Safdar and former PPP minister Dr Asim Husain.

He refused to accept that the Sharifs were being truly held accountable for their corruption unless and until an equal treatment for all those being tried by NAB.

“We were arrested first and then reasons (cases) for the arrest would be made public while cases against them (Sharifs) have been instituted on the orders of the Supreme Court but they were roaming freely,” he lamented.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017