LAHORE: The PML-N has demanded removal of federal cabinet members Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Zulfi Bokhari for their alleged corruption in over Rs2 billion Rawalpindi Ring Road project scam.

“The PTI government instead of making some bureaucrats scapegoat should take action against close aide to the prime minister Zulfi Bokhari and federal minister Ghulam Sarwar for being direct beneficiaries of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project scam,” PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar told a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said both Zulfi and Sarwar had got huge financial benefits in this project as their lands fell in the project area. He said PM Khan was known for benefiting his ATMs through different means.

Tarar said with a mala fide intention this project’s length was increased from 40 kilometres to 66 kilometres and approval was given by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to benefit the close associates of Imran Khan.

“It’s a daylight robbery on the national kitty. We demand formation of a judicial commission comprising apex court judges to investigate this Rs2.3bn land scam and meanwhile both Zulfi and Sarwar should be removed from their posts,” the PML-N leader demanded.

He said if this scam was probed, culprits’ footprints would be found in Bani Gala.

He said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should take notice of it but perhaps it did not see beyond the Sharif family.

PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Bokhari said after Jahangir Tareen, the PTI government would give NRO to Zulfi and Sarwar in this scam.

Shehbaz: PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif has said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government’s frequent policy shifts have a considerable cost for Pakistan.

“The PTI govt has established a pattern of saying one thing and then taking it back the next day. This casual & indifferent approach covers all aspects of governance, including country’s foreign relations.. & this never-ending policy flip-flop has come at a considerable cost to Pakistan,” Shehbaz said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, PML-N information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the PTI regime had brought the country that was thriving because of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to a point where it was run on soup kitchens and that was why Saudi Arabia also gave Imran Khan charity goods and rice bags.

In a statement, Marriyum said no body would invest in a country that was not investing in itself, alleging that all avenues of development had been choked by the Imran government.

She said PML-N quaid Nawaz Sharif had brought the CPEC for Pakistan, while the “incompetent” Imran brought embarrassment, charity and bags of rice for the country.

“Will this charity and rice bags could pay off the Rs14,000 billion debt, which Imran has buried the country under,” she asked.

Ms Aurangzeb said during the era of Nawaz and Shehbaz the loan amount was spent on the mass transport system, CPEC, innumerable development projects, plummeting inflation, while the employment opportunities increased. “But today, even after taking record loans, the Imran government is running on charity given by Saudi Arabia.”

She said the PML-N took Rs10,000 billion loans in five years and achieved 5.8 per cent GDP, besides bringing down inflation rate to three percent, while Imran’s took Rs11,000bn in loans during its three-year tenure so far and gifted the country unprecedented price hike and unemployment.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021