Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Saturday said if the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were offering money to the government in return for dropping charges against them, Prime Minister Imran Khan should take the nation into confidence, a private TV channel reported.
“Today I am going to make a huge statement if he [Prime Minister Khan] doesn’t get upset. If any of the parties [PPP, PML-N] are offering money and if there is any truth in the rumours that a deal is being struck between them and Islamabad, the prime minister must inform the nation,” the minister old media in Lahore.
Terming Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif ‘coward’ politicians, he insisted that the two brothers were trying hard to become ‘heroes’ in the ongoing corruption references. “Sharifs know how to cut a deal but after failed attempts, they are now moving towards a concessional deal,” the minister claimed.
Abbasi says Nawaz will never seek an NRO
The minister requested Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to remove Rangers from Shehbaz’s security protocol. “With armed forces protecting thieves, a very wrong message is being communicated to the people,” he said.
Commenting on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s recent threat of a long march, Sheikh Rashid said, “I will also support Bilawal if his march is aimed at eliminating corruption from the country.”
Meanwhile addressing a press conference in Multan, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Nawaz Sharif never demanded an NRO and will not do so even in the future. He maintained that Nawaz will continue his political struggle. “No corruption charges against him have been proven,” he commented.
Published in Daily Times, February 3rd 2019.
