PML-N warns of a long march

Shahbaz Sharif tells Zardari to stop making whimsical decisions.

KHUSHAB: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has rejected the appointment of Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah as the new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and threatened to lead a long march against the government if President Asif Zardari did not mend his ways.

Speaking at a ceremony in the Joharabad area of Khushab, Sharif warned that Zardari should stop making whimsical decisions because the country cannot be run in this manner for long.

He said that by appointing Shah as the new NAB chief, the government has not only “slapped justice in the face, but has also tried to bury the $60 million looted national wealth.”

Terming the appointment an effort to weaken the law, he said it would support corruption. Sharif said that it would be impossible to expect impartiality and justice from Shah because he had been a PPP candidate in the elections.

He said that his party has decided to launch a countrywide agitation movement against this appointment, adding that Pakistan is not anyone’s personal property and no-one should be allowed to plunder national wealth.

He said that the wealth looted from Pakistan and kept in Swiss banks actually belonged to the country’s poor.

Criticising the government for its inaction on solving critical problems faced by the people, Sharif said that most people were still without basic health and education facilities.

“The country is passing through the most difficult phase of its history but we will surmount the challenge,” he said.

“Our agriculture, bridges, roads, houses and hospitals have been devastated but all this will not discourage us from getting on our feet,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2010.