Calling the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law and its chairman the root cause of all the problems, former prime minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday said the recently promulgated NAB ordinance was a ‘black law’, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Addressing a press conference, he asked as to what was the reason behind issuing the ordinance when there was parliament in the country. “The Senate session was prorogued just for the sake of the ordinance,” he said, and added, “The purpose of promulgating the ordinance was to grant extension to NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal who does not work for Pakistan, who is not interested in accountability, but he is the man who is on the payroll of Prime Minister Imran Khan.” 

“The government’s motive behind issuing the ordinance is to give ‘NRO’ to the prime minister and his ministers,” he said, adding the government had made it clear that from now onwards the cabinet’s decisions could not be questioned. “Nobody will now dare question the federal ministers’ role in sugar and wheat crises. And nor will anybody be able to ask about the money generated through drugs scandal,” he commented. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSf20YePqGI

Abbasi added similarly from now onwards there would be no pointing of fingers at ministers over their role in the oil crisis.

Former prime minister went on to add that a ‘strange’ thing in the ordinance was that now there could be no questioning about tax evasion and concealing of assets. “For instance, those 700 Pakistanis whose names have appeared in the Pandora Leaks cannot be asked about the source of their wealth they had stashed abroad,” he alleged. 

As a matter of fact, he added, the entire exercise was done with a bad intention. “If you (the government) had tabled draft of the ordinance in the parliament, it would have resulted in a ‘better’ law,” he opined.

Abbasi said three years had passed since the PTI government took office, and today stories of its corruption are in everybody’s knowledge. “But hats off to the NAB, which is still unmoved,” he regretted.

Referring to PM Imran’s refusal to talk to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on granting extension to the NAB chairman, senior PML-N leader said, “If he is not interested in consulting Shehbaz, the chairman better pack up and leave on the date of expiry of his term.”