ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has criticised Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif for evading arrest by the National Accountability Bureau in Lahore on Tuesday and said the acco­untability process will not stop now.

During a media briefing on Wednesday, the minister described the Sharif family as locust to the country’s economy.

He said the locust attack was a serious threat to the country and it had been triggered because of sanctions against Iran. The sanctions had restricted the ability of Iran to fight locust swarms, he added.

“As a result, these swarms grew stronger and bigger and have now become a threat to the crops in the whole region.”

Mr Faraz talked about the preparedness of the government to counter fresh hordes of locusts set to arrive from East Africa by next month.

He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif did not come to the National Assembly for fear of coronavirus and he had obtained bail on a stamp paper of Rs50.

The minister said the PML-N leadership sitting in Britain was also on bail on the Rs50 stamp paper, and they were making their pictures viral from London. He said making the picture of Nawaz Sharif viral was to dispel the impression that the PML-N supreme leader was dying and to tell the party that he was still in charge.

Mr Faraz said the Sharif family was facing serious internal rift over the issue of party leadership.

“While the whole of PML-N leadership is wasting nation’s time by spreading lies and deception, they want to create chaos only to escape accountability,” he said.

The minister said the people had rejected those who made politics their business, but the government led by Imran Khan would not allow it.

“Disclosures in the sugar commission report have proven that we did not spare anybody. In the next phase, all the facilitators in the SECP [Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan], FBR [Federal Board of Revenue] or CCP [Competition Commission of Pakistan], etc., will be included in the inquiry,” he said.

“PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf] is a party of ideological people who do not believe in hereditary politics so we are only concerned about the future of youths who will be the next leaders of this country,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, MNA Farrukh Habib of the ruling PTI said that fear of accountability was evident on the face of Shahbaz Sharif.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2020