‘PML-N’s stance hurdle in passing accountability bill’

PML-N insists head of the accountability commission should be a sitting judge of the SC

ISLAMABAD: The tabling of the accountability bill in the National Assembly has been delayed due to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) inflexible stance on the appointment of head of the ehtesab (accountability) commission, said Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira on Monday.

The sticking point is PML-N’s insistence that the head of the accountability commission should be a sitting judge of Supreme Court. Kaira termed PML-N’s stance “the main hurdle in early passage of the bill.”

Kaira insisted that the Pakistan People’s Party-led (PPP) government wanted accountability process across the board to purge the system from corrupt elements.

“We believe in accountability and we want that the accountability bill should be passed after evolving consensus of all parties in the parliament. We desire the process should move forward but PML-N is still stuck to only one thing,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kaira referred to a telephonic conversation between ex-Senator Saifur Rehman and Justice (retd) Abdul Qayyum, calling it substantial proof of the falsity of cases instituted by the previous governments against assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari.

He said the cassettes were presented in the Supreme Court that has declared the previous judgments void after disclosure of the tapes. Kaira also said the PML-N leadership has publicly accepted that fake cases were framed against PPP’s leadership under pressure.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2010.