ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz has claimed that the opposition parties blackmailed the government on the matter of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) related bills to secure its corruption.
“The opposition had proposed 34 out of 38 amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAB) to hide corruption,” he claimed, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad today (Monday).
The information minister reiterated that the government will never offer any kind of NRO to the opposition. “They pressurized the government by proposing these amendments, at a time when the government was seeking opposition’s cooperation to bring Pakistan out of FATF’s grey list,” he added.
Shibli Faraz further said that the opposition proposed that NAB should not have powers to take up cases reported before 1999 and should only take notice of corruption cases reported in the last five years.
He claimed that the opposition also suggested that corruption cases of less than one billion rupees, willful default or writing off loan, and offence of money laundering should stay out of NAB’s purview.
It was proposed to allow convicts to contest elections till the final disposal of their cases and disqualification should be up to only five years. “The proposed amendments would benefit Saad Rafique, Khurshid Shah, and several other opposition leaders facing NAB references,” said the minister.
“The gang of corrupt leaders is misleading the people by holding mass gatherings in the country,” he said, adding that the opposition attempted to create a divide among institutions responsible for the country’s security.
The federal minister said that the government was functioning as per law and the Constitution. “The PTI-Government will fulfill all its pledges, including the provision of 10 million jobs and five million houses, in its five-year term,” he concluded.
