LAHORE: The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has criticised the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for what it says levelling corruption allegations against opposition leaders without coming up with evidence during the last three years.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi along with Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah told a press conference on Sunday that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had itself confessed during proceedings of a court case that Shehbaz Sharif didn’t accept kickbacks in any development project.

“Different ministers are daily levelling all kinds of allegations against Shehbaz Sharif though court verdicts are adjudicating against it. Even NAB stated in a court of law that the opposition leader has committed no corruption, while there is no evidence that Shehbaz has committed any money laundering,” Mr Abbasi said.

He dared the government to make public the evidence it claims to have against the PML-N leadership.

Says NAB itself admitted Shehbaz didn’t receive any kickbacks

Mr Abbasi regretted that the opposition leader had remained behind bars for more than one-and-a-half years under allegations which were never proved.

Without naming the names, he said a minister would have to tell the people the reasons behind the notoriety of his (minister’s) father, grandfather and father-in-law.

Mr Iqbal lamented that the PTI has been assassinating the character of the PML-N leaders for the last three years while the performance of Shehbaz Sharif as the chief minister was lauded within and outside the country.

Terming Prime Minister Imran Khan a sadist person, the PML-N leader said that the prime minister would get consolation by seeing Mr Sharif traveling in an armored car during court appearances, while secret cameras were also installed in the prison cell of the opposition leader.

He said PM’s special assistant Shehzad Akbar had committed contempt of court by criticising the Lahore High Court in the Shehbaz Sharif case.

He said the foreign funding case of the PTI was a bombshell for the ruling party as it contained evidence about money laundering worth billions of rupees by Imran Khan.

Rana Sana said that the accountability drama had been put on a ventilator and would breath its last soon.

He said no one could bar Shehbaz Sharif from going abroad as the LHC had allowed the opposition leader for the purpose after seeing that NAB could not produce any evidence of corruption, kickbacks or money laundering against him.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2021