Summary NAB criticized during National Assembly session.
Dunya News Report (Yaruq Malik)
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was heavily criticized in the National Assembly (NA) by the opposition benches during a recent session. The discussion on the accountability watchdog gained hype during the comments made by Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Imran Zafar Leghari.
The PPP MNA accused NAB of interfering in provincial matters beyond its jurisdiction. He further added that NAB is operating illegally as the 18th Amendment limits the activities of NAB in provinces. He also questioned the misuse of authority depicted by the chairman NAB.
“The NAB chairman has the authority to declare and notify any place as a police station or a sub-jail at his discretion. I have my own name for NAB; I call it the ‘National Action Plan for Blackmailing’. Have we forgotten what NAB did in the 2002 elections? It was created by a dictator to change political loyalties; if a PML-N member didn’t join Musharraf, he was slapped with references,” he said while addressing the National Assembly.
Surprisingly, the PPP MNA praised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration for establishing an independent Ehtesab Commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the 18th Amendment.
Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated that political victimization through NAB or any other institutional body has been a part of Pakistani politics since the early 90’s.
“I remember when Nawaz Sharif was in opposition, the late Benazir Bhutto was prime minister and Chaudhry Farooq was attorney general, 55 politically motivated cases were instituted against Mian Nawaz Sharif. This meant that whenever someone came into power, they would spend all their energies trying to wriggle out of these cases,” the former PM said.
Defending the federal government, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid stated that alongside a few cases of alleged political victimization, NAB has also done plenty of ‘good’ in terms of accountability in Pakistan. He further added that the federal government would welcome suggestions from the house to improve the process of accountability.
“Whatever suggestions the house may have to improve the system of accountability, the government will welcome them,” he said.
Previously, NAB denied allegations of working under the influence of political personalities and told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that the bureau has been an ‘independent’ institution since it started working against the corrupt.
The petition against NAB was filed by Gohar Nawaz Sindhu, an advocate from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Lawyer’s Wing. In the petition, it was stated that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had heavily criticized the bureau’s investigations under the chairmanship of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry. It was also said that the PM tried to influence the NAB chairman in multiple corruption cases through his remarks.
The LHC dismissed the petition against NAB after a brief session stating that the bureau is working ‘independently’.
Moreover, Pervaiz Rashid had accused the former military dictator, General (Rtd) Pervez Musharraf, of creating NAB to be used against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.
While speaking to the reporters, the minister also accused Benazir Bhutto of ‘political victimization’ against the PML-N.
“Our accountability is being done for the last 20 years. First, it was done by the Pakistan People’s Party government led by Ms Benazir Bhutto and then by former president General Pervez Musharraf. General Musharraf was the architect of NAB and had we committed even a petty mistake, we would have been punished.” said the minister.
The minister heavily criticized the people who left the PML-N in 1999 and joined Pervez Musharraf.
“Those who were afraid of NAB had left the party and sided with then president General Musharraf in 1999.” Pervaiz Rashid told the reporters.
According to officials, NAB initiated disciplinary proceedings against 83 of its own officials. The report stated that 22 NAB officials have been penalized for various charges including the misuse of power and authority while serving at NAB. Chairman NAB, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry highlighted that the bureau finds it necessary to hold its own employees accountable under the internal accountability mechanism (IAM). He added that NAB is committed to cleanse its own hierarchy of officials, in order to resist any misuse of power and authority within the bureau.
“A NAB officer should have impeccable integrity and service discipline as he holds others accountable. Disciplinary matters are important for efficiency and effective performance of a system. We have taken strong actions against our own officials by taking a stock of complaints against them.” said the NAB chairman.
A recent press release stated that NAB, through its prosecution strategies against the corrupt, has recovered Rs 266.544 billion thus far. After facing criticism and a possible shutdown from Justice Amir Hani Muslim, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is striking hard against corruption cases across the country. NAB has provided the Supreme Court of Pakistan with ample evidence of alleged ‘foul play’ across Pakistan and within the bureau.
