Stopping Zardari from coming to parliament would be disrespect to voters, says Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday that the speaker should issue production order for Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari as stopping him from speaking in the parliament will be a sheer disrespect to the people of Pakistan.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Zardari in the fake bank accounts case from his residential place in the capital city. The anti-graft body has taken the former president to the NAB office in Melody.

Gilani said that Zardari will face the courts as like late Benazir Bhutto did in the past. “It wont be a good omen for democracy if Zardari is not given the permission to go to parliament,” he said.

The PPP leader’s demand was also shared by Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Monday the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president said that former president Asif Ali Zardari has presented himself before the National Accountability Bureau on every occasion there was no need for immediate arrest.

"Zardari never used delaying tactics. NAB should have appreciated this," said the opposition leader.

The case

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July last year in connection with the probe.

The former president’s other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed a close aide and Omni Group chairman and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August 2018.

Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.

The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.