LAHORE: Criticising what he described as ‘one-sided accountability’ of the ruling party’s leadership, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has claimed that it has strengthened the Sharifs but at the same time he termed it pre-poll rigging.

Mr Iqbal, who is deputy secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said: “The one-sided accountability has not politically hurt the Sharifs. It has, instead, strengthened them. If the Sharifs are victimised through one-sided accountability, as is happening, it will be taken as pre-poll rigging.”

Without mentioning the Avenfield and other cases in an accountability court of Islamabad against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, the minister was of the opinion that even if the wealth of the entire world was deposited in the bank accounts of the Sharifs, no one was going to believe it.

Talking about former president Pervez Musharraf, he said the former military dictator should appear before a court because otherwise he risked cancellation of his passport and national identity card. “He is no more a general,” said Mr Iqbal, adding that being the head of a political party Musharraf could be dealt with as a common Pakistani.

Says even if the wealth of the entire world is deposited in the bank accounts of the Sharifs, no one is going to believe it

The interior minister said the former army chief should not worry about his security. “He will be given foolproof security,” he declared.

Mr Iqbal said that those trying to sneak into power through the back door must understand that the two-decade-old politics could not be repeated. “Things have moved far ahead,” he added.

The minister said Pakistan had been victim of so many “conspiratorial games” in the past that people lost faith in propagandists, conspiracies and their authors. There were rumours that the Senate election would not be held as provincial assemblies would be dissolved before them, he said, adding that all this proved wrong.

Doubts were being created about the upcoming general elections and caretaker set-up, he said, adding that according to a new conspiracy theory a “third force” would nominate the caretaker set-up. “All these rumours are being spread to keep the country unstable,” he said, while expressing the hope that the government and opposition would achieve consensus on the caretaker set-up.

Pleading national unity on different issues, the interior minister said that many forces were active against the success of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and trying to hurt economic prospects. Pakistan, he said, was well on its way to development. “It has almost overcome the menace of terrorism as apart from sporadic and rare incidents, the general situation has improved a lot. The CPEC is progressing at a brisk pace. All these factors point towards good and secure future of the country,” he said, advising people not to lend an ear to those trying to damage national unity.

Mr Iqbal, who had publicly criticised his predecessor at a university function only a day ago over the new procedure for placing names on the Exit Control List, however, refused to comment on the recent utterance of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the National Assembly.

Earlier, the interior minister inaugurated a new centre of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and told the media that the increase in the number of centres would help in voters’ registration so that the next general elections could be made more transparent.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2018