LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif smells a rat in the extension being given to the Sugar Inquiry Commission for presenting forensic audit of the subsidy approved for the sweetener’s export, while the government accuses the PML-N president of politicking during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Not issuing the final report is tantamount to confession of the crime by [Prime Minister] Imran Niazi,” Mr Sharif said, alleging that granting the three-week extension to the commission showed a nexus between the prime minister and the sugar mafia aimed at covering up the scandal.

In a statement issued on Sunday, he said that those who chaired meetings of the cabinet and the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), which had approved the subsidy for the export of sugar in the first place, were actually responsible for the sugar crisis in the country.

Holding Prime Minister Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar responsible for the subsidy decisions, he said the delay in the final report was in fact validation of the Rs100 robbery made in the national exchequer.

Firdous decries PML-N leader for commenting on a proposal which is yet to be approved by the cabinet

“The delay is an attempt to save those who are primarily responsible for the robbery and Imran’s crime cannot be concealed by covering up the inquiry report,” the PML-N leader said.

Mr Sharif also objected to the composition of the commission saying those who had been part of the inquiry committee were also made members of the panel for forensic audit.

“The [composition of the] inquiry commission is not justifiable as members of the committee had been nominated as members of the commission, too,” he said, demanding that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former federal comer minister Khurram Dastgir Khan should be allowed to join the commission’s proceedings for exposing the real characters behind the sugar and wheat export scandals.

Reacting to the statement, the government accused the opposition of indulging in petty politics notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a press conference in Sialkot that the opposition leader had commented on an issue which was yet to be approved by the cabinet on Monday.

Defending the subsidy decision, she chided the opposition leader saying neither the prime minister nor his close family members benefited from the subsidy unlike the PML-N government when son and other relatives of Mr Sharif had taken advantage of the scheme.

She regretted that the opposition was politicking during the pandemic while the prime minister had been urging all to rise above petty politics for forging a united front against the disease.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2020