ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has linked Friday’s meeting between Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Karachi to the recent order of the Supreme Court to establish 120 accountability courts.

Addressing a news conference on Saturday, the information minister lauded the Supreme Court for ordering the constitution of 120 more accountability courts in the country and said the opposition parties were feeling the heat so they were planning to organise the so-called all-party conferences (APCs).

The Supreme Court had recently ordered the law secretary to immediately seek instructions from the government for setting up at least 120 accountability courts to clear a huge backlog of cases.

Says the ‘divided’ opposition would never get an opportunity to come to power again

The directives were issued by the apex court after expressing dismay over 1,226 pending references since the year 2000 as well as vacancies in five accountability courts out of a total of 25.

The information minister said the divided opposition parties would never get an opportunity to come to power again due to their alleged massive corruption. He said the opposition parties had differences on many issues and they came close to each other only when they feared the accountability process.

Mr Faraz alleged that the opposition parties were holding meetings only to put pressure on Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop the ongoing accountability process.

The information minister said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was the only party which expelled its members from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly when they violated the party policy in the Senate elections in 2018. He said the performance of all the ministers and officers was being monitored and action would be taken against those found involved in any wrongdoing.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2020