Untrained people ruling Punjab; NAB involved in political engineering: Bilawal

LAHORE : Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that untrained people who are also incompetent and unqualified are running government of country’s largest province. Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Bilawal Bhutto lashed out Punjab government and said that an ‘in-training’ chief minister cannot be appointed in Punjab and if the team is not eligible for the job how it can run the largest province of the country. The Chairman of PPP also claimed that according to Transparency International incumbent government is the most corrupt one in the history. Bilawal while demanding abolishment of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), resignation of its Chairman and release of all political prisoners after the recent verdict of Supreme Court of Pakistan, said that the court’s decision clearly states that NAB is being used for political engineering.  He also accused the anti-graft watchdog of only taking action against opposition while turning a blind eye to government’s mega scams. He also urged all stakeholders to get together for abolishment of NAB and said that unanimous legislation is needed for unbiased accountability process in the country. “Our first step should be to end NAB and close it, as it is a scar on the face of the legal system of Pakistan and all parties should work on it,” said Bilawal. The remarks by Bilawal Bhutto came a day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) demanded a new accountability body be formed following the Supreme Court’s detailed verdict in the Paragon Housing Society case slamming the accountability bureau for its “utter disregard for the law.”The PPP chairman went on to say that after the Supreme Court of Pakistan verdict there was no reason for “NAB to stay”. He also added that “NAB chairman, who was a judge at one point, should resign if he had any respect or had read the judgment”.“If the highest court of this land puts these things forward then we cannot leave it here. Parliament should act at once,” said the PPP chairman. Bilawal also stated that the NAB should “clarify” itself as the Supreme Court order said that it was not taking actions against the government’s mega corruption cases. “NAB should at once launch an investigation into the foreign funding case, BRT, billion tree cases, special assistants’ assets declaration and dual nationality,” asked Bilawal.“If our system is two-faced then how can he [NAB Chairman] come and say accountability will be done from head to toe?” asked Bilawal and called for an end to the “joke” that was being done with Pakistan.While talking about All Parties Conference (APC) of opposition, Bilawal said that he held detailed talks with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and it was decided to hold the conference after the complete recovery of Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif.