ISLAMABAD, July 1: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan condemned on Sunday ‘obvious collusion’ between the Zardari government and the Sharif family and demanded of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to not only open pending cases against PML-N leaders but also initiate inquiries against other politicians to clean the house before the general election.

Reacting to a statement of NAB chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari that President Asif Ali Zardari had stopped him from reopening cases against Nawaz Sharif, Mr Khan said: “What more proof do we need about the underhand deal between Mr Zardari and Mr Nawaz.”

The PTI chairman said his party would not tolerate this “criminal connivance” between Mr Zardari, Mr Nawaz and the NAB and would pursue the matter right to its logical conclusion.

“It is the nation’s money that has been stolen by Zardari and the Sharifs and the NAB is duty-bound to aggressively pursue all cases in which the country has been robbed and the argument that because elections are near no cases would be opened against politicians is ridiculous,” he remarked.

“A house-cleaning exercise is essential before the elections and the NAB chairman is no one to arbitrarily decide that prosecution against looted wealth would be halted in superior courts,” he said.

“The nation has been seeing this deal unfolding on numerous occasions in the past four years when Nawaz Sharif helped Asif Zardari get elected as president and then the two parties formed a coalition government in Punjab. We still remember that Nawaz Sharif would come to the rescue of Zardari making excuse of saving the system.”

Mr Khan said Nawaz Sharif once said that even if the entire PPP deserted Mr Zardari, he would be there to help him.

He pointed that despite Shahbaz Sharif’s antics, N-League and PPP colluded during the Senate elections, then in by-elections and now in ensuring that fresh elections were not held till next year.