Would not like anyone to be disqualified, says Abbasi

PML-N leader calls for NAB to be abolished, says bureau 'paralyses' people

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday said he was not in favour of any politician's disqualification as politics should be contested within constituencies. 

Talking to the media after a hearing in the accountability court in Karachi, the former premier was asked about Imran's Toshakhana case hearing scheduled for today. He maintained that if an individual could be disqualified for life for not taking fees from his son's company, then why could another not be disqualified for receiving millions from abroad – a thinly veiled reference to PTI's prohibited funding case.

However, Abbasi highlighted that he would not like to see anyone disqualified for life.

COAS appointment

Commenting on the appointment of a new chief of the army staff, Abbasi said that the position should to go to the senior-most candidate.

He maintained that current COAS Gen Bajwa would retire at the end of his tenure and that the army chief himself had stated that he did not want to extend his appointment.

NAB should be abolished

The PML-N leader alleged that due to “false” NAB cases, people were incarcerated, had to abandon their business ventures and that the accountability watchdog had “paralysed” people’s lives. He questioned if NAB would be able to repair the damage it caused.

The former premier further said that he had called for NAB to be abolished “from the beginning”, claiming that those who put others in jail increased their own assets.

Read Records of NAB cases must be preserved: SC

He also claimed that former NAB chief Javed Iqbal could not disclose his own assets before the public.

Earlier this year, at the outset of the PTI government’s removal, Abbasi had urged the coalition government to dissolve NAB whose chairman Javed Iqbal was “fully under the control” of former premier Imran Khan.

Abbasi had advised the government to end NAB and hold its officials accountable who allegedly tortured and looted people for years during the PTI regime. The NAB chairman used to take instructions from the previous government, he said