LAHORE, Aug 24: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez said on Saturday no-one involved in corruption or plunder of public wealth could or would escape accountability.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, the chairman sought to dispel general public perception that the NAB had been acting “partially” against politicians opposing the military regime while ignoring corruption of those supporting it. “I do not agree with this perception.”

However, he utterly failed to satisfy the reporters present there who wanted to know how many “corrupt” from the PML-QA had been nabbed. “Are those belonging to the PML-QA clean and honest and those from the PPP and the PML-N dishonest and corrupt,” some of the journalists present wondered, quite loudly.

“The PML-QA has just been formed,” the general defended the NAB, adding some 24 cases were at different stages of probe, investigation and prosecution against those belonging to the PPP, 30 against those from the PML-N and 33 others. However, he could not name any pro-regime politician arrested by his organization. But he promised that he would do his homework before he again meets the press in future.

Replying to a question, he said all those politicians who had actually been convicted by the court in accountability cases would be barred from participating in the October polls. However, he was unable to tell the number of such politicians.

In reply to another question, the general stated that the cases against the members of the Sharif family exiled to Saudi Arabia had been “adjourned sine die”. “If they try to return, the same cases would be reopened for prosecution,” he said.

He said the government was making “normal” efforts for the extradition of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. “We are not focussing on her extradition or making any special attempts for it.”

The chairman said the NAB law was there to stay (even beyond the October polls). However, he indicated that the government was looking at it to make changes to improve it in the light of its past experience and judgments given in the NAB cases by the courts. “Attempts to improve the laws should continue to update and improve them according to the needs of changing times. We have attained 85 per cent conviction and want to raise conviction rate to 100 per cent,” he added. He said the law had been validated by the Supreme Court and given constitutional cover and made part of Schedule VI. Though parliament (coming into existence after the general election) would be the supreme institution, it would not be able to repeal or change the law because presidential approval would be required for it. “The process of accountability must continue after the polls. The politicians would have to pledge for it,” he said.

He stated the delays caused in the finalization of a case were due to long time taken to investigate them to fulfil the needs and requirements of the law and justice. “We don’t want to file uncooked references against anyone or implicate any innocent person. That’s why we take quite long to complete investigation and collect concrete evidence against the accused. It is a wrong impression that it is done to harass someone. We want to achieve 100 per cent conviction rate.”

Speaking of the cases against Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, he said the decisions in those references were delayed due to adjournments sought by the defence and not because of lack of evidence and proof. “We have ample evidence against them. The defence counsel are employing tactics to delay them.”

The general said the NAB had never offered the choice of plea bargain to any accused. “It is the accused who confesses to his crime and agrees to return the amount plundered by him through plea bargain. First the application goes to the regional NAB committee and then to a central committee for decision. If the committee considers that the accused is offering to return all the amount looted by him, it is referred to the court for a decision for the purpose of transparency. We, the NAB, have nothing to do with it.”

The chairman did not agree that the NAB had adversely affected the business climate in the country. He said the NAB had helped the banks recover Rs7 billion from the defaulters and created a “clean business environment”. “Foreign investment is increasing in the country and stock markets are booming because of our drive to root out corruption and recover the looted public money,” he insisted.

He said the NAB had proposed to the government to merge anti-corruption and economic crime wings of the FIA with it. He said the NAB had demonstrated its ability to deal with these crime which was why it had put forward this proposal to the government. Besides, he said, such cases should be registered, probed and prosecuted under a uniform law. At present, the punishments awarded under the NAB law were more strict than the laws under which the FIA registered the cases. He said the final decision in this regard would be taken by the government.

He said no political party had so far refused to participate in the National Ehtesab Conference being organized by the NAB. However, he added, the heads of parties might not be able to attend the conference because of their preoccupation with the general elections.