Shah sees ‘ill-intent’ in Aleem’s arrest

PPP leader claims action taken to justify arrest of other politicians

ISLAMABAD: Member of National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah (MNA) has said that Punjab senior minister Aleem Khan’s arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been made with “ill-intent”, claiming that he would soon be released on bail.

Talking to Daily Express on Wednesday, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA alleged that the action has been taken to justify the arrest of some other politicians. “Aleem was a senior minister and his arrest without investigation appears to benefit him,” Shah said.

On NAB’s summoning of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has also been taking LNG from Qatar.
He added that Abbasi would have expected such a call where he could explain the deal made with the gulf country under his authority.

The PPP leader also said that his party was not looking for a deal or any other sort of relief. “The PPP does not believe in deals, it believes in power of the people,” he said, adding that his party would try to keep the system running as much as possible.

There would be an immense loss if the system is derailed, he warned.

Criticising the supplementary finance bill, Shah said the government was unreasonably delaying the ‘mini-budget’ even after having it approved from the assembly.

Economic activities of the country were adversely affected because of non-implementation of relief given in the mini-budget, he said adding that that people have been withholding transactions so that they may avail the relief measures.

This delay has been disturbing the business activities, he added. Shah said, “Nowhere in the country’s history have we seen such a spectacle with the national economy.”

The MNA lauded the recent development of finalisation of the assembly’s standing committees and termed it as “a big power” of parliament. He also appreciated the role played by Speaker Asad Qaiser.
He lamented that the committees were formed after six months of the new government, showing that it was not even prepared for the task.

“When the opposition had consensus on the committees, it was sad to notice that the government did not have its final nominations for them,” said Shah.

The PPP leader reiterated that the reversal of 18th Constitutional Amendment would trigger new tensions between the federation and provinces.