Shehbaz Sharif accuses Asif Zardari of Rs6 billion corruption

Punjab CM says he will accept all decisions of elder brother Nawaz Sharif, who is also the ruling PML-N chief

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was involved in the embezzlement of Rs6 billion of tax-payers’ money and urged him to refrain from issuing suggestive statements.

Speaking to the media after inaugurating a kidney transplant facility in Lahore on Tuesday, he said the opponents have not been able to prove corruption of even a single penny against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Sharif family, Express News reported.

PML-N is Pakistan’s knight in shining armour: Shehbaz

Taking a jibe at Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Shehbaz said those ruling the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have done nothing but plundering the province and were demanding early polls to sabotage the ongoing Orange Train project.

“They [PTI] haven’t given anything to people of K-P and also want to deprive masses in Punjab of their rights,” he added.

The Punjab CM alleged Imran of wasting the nation’s time in anti-government sit-ins and asserted that a PML-N government would have controlled the spread of dengue virus instead of enjoying time at mountains – a reference to Imran’s frequent leisure trips to Nathiagali in the recent past.

'Will abide by decisions of elder brother'

In an apparent attempt to tone down reports of power tussle between Sharif brothers, Shehbaz said he would abide by all decisions of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif – the deposed prime minister who is also the ruling party's chairman.

Rana Sanaullah denies Shehbaz will be PML-N’s candidate for PM’s slot

In high-level party huddle in London last month, the ousted premier was reportedly unhappy with the Punjab CM and his son Hamza Sehbabz’s cold response to the reconciliation efforts of his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

During the meetings in London, Shehbaz was said to have minced no words in assuring his elder brother that he always stood by his side and would continue to do so, but also said that the way loyalists were marginalised in the party at the expense of promoting the ‘paratroopers’ was costing the PML-N dearly.

Efforts afoot to reconcile Sharif brothers

The former prime minister was further urged by his younger brother that he needed to differentiate between those who sacrificed for the party in the past to keep it intact and those who brought the party to the point where it was today — on the verge of isolation.

The elder Sharif reportedly sounded unhappy mentioning that senior cabinet members and party leaders were openly criticising his policies and putting their weight behind his younger brother.