LAHORE: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry expects a ‘landmark’ decision in the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the accountability court on Monday (today).

Asked to explain ‘landmark’, at a news conference here on Sunday, the minister said that “anybody following the case knows well about the outcome”.

Questioning the justice system in vogue, Mr Chaudhry, a practicing lawyer before joining politics, regretted that a simple case of giving money trail for the properties abroad took 15 months to reach its conclusion. He said the case saw 181 hearings and 22 witnesses.

Fawad says masses won’t join opposition’s movement

Responding to a question about Maryam Nawaz’ silence, Mr Chaudhry said Ms Nawaz had seen the whole case and now she knew very well about her father’s corruption.

He said Nawaz Sharif and his children had properties abroad worth billions of rupees, but they did not know from where they had got the money to purchase the properties in question. He also regretted that the nation had to wait for three years to get the decision on the Panama Papers case.

Referring to the opposition’s assertions that they were being victimised, Mr Chaudhry asked, “Who were the goons if Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Saad Rafique are innocent?” He asked whether there were ghosts or devils ruling Pakistan who looted the nation during past 15 years.

Mr Chaudhry said the corrupt were making speeches in parliament posing themselves as innocent, adding that they never felt ashamed or thought for the poor people of Pakistan while looting the national wealth ruthlessly.

He also chided the PML-N and PPP for planning to join hands to launch a movement “to protect their looted money and properties abroad” and said that people would not come out to support their ‘cause’.

Mocking the opposition parties further, the minister said the proposed alliance should have the title of ‘Thugs of Pakistan’.

The information minister said Nawaz Sharif’s children got billions of rupees in their accounts when they were not even entitled to get their identity cards and added that former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was stealthily getting Rs1.6 million monthly from the UAE.

The information minister continued chiding Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif for being stubborn to become head of the parliament’s accountability committee despite facing corruption charges in NAB. “This is a group of blackmailers,” he said, adding that “younger brother will be reviewing elder brother’s corruption in the National Assembly, while son will be reviewing his father’s corruption in the Punjab Assembly”. This was completely illogical, he said.

Stating that Mian Javed in a university campus case died in jail for not being filthy rich or having political clout, Mr Chaudhry said PML-N’s Saad Rafique did not stay in jail for one day after remand and was seen making speeches in parliament. “Now the National Assembly’s committees have been constituted and they will remain busy there,” he predicted.

“The PTI government is breaking the status quo of past 30 years and the ‘hue and cry’ of the past rulers testifies it,” he said. “The old system of rule and governance is being buried,” he added.

The information minister said the country’s politics and economy would now be heading towards a right direction as its financial health was improving and different countries had started trusting Pakistan and changing their travel advisories. Similarly, he said, Pakistan was now also softening its visa restrictions to attract tourists and promote tourism.

Answering a question, Mr Chaudhry said a joint investigation team (JIT) should be constituted immediately to probe the Model Town killings and the case should be taken to its conclusion. “It will be a failure of justice system if the Model Town killings case does not reach its logical conclusion,” he said and regretted that the main accused were seen sitting in parliament.

Answering another question, he said parliament would be enacting new laws, but its more focus would be on the implementation of laws.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2018