PM Imran, NAB will be responsible if anything happens to Shehbaz Sharif: PML-N

LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will be held responsible if anything happens to Shehbaz Sharif, said PML-N representative Ata Tarar on Thursday. 

The PML-N leader was holding a press conference a few hours after the party confirmed Sharif had tested positive for COVID-19. He said that despite informing NAB several times that Sharif was a cancer survivor and was at risk from COVID-19, he was summoned by the anti-graft body. 

"This was a well thought out plan to put the lives of all these people [PML-N leaders] in danger," he said, blaming the 'NAB-Niazi nexus' for putting Sharif at risk of contracting coronavirus. 

Refuting allegations of corruption, he said that there was not a single shred of evidence against the former Punjab chief minister. "Tell us, where is corruption? Where are the kickbacks? Where are the misuse of advertisements? Where are the commissions? Tell us, what damage has been done to the national kitty," he said. 

He lashed out at Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar's claims that the government had various records of TT of the PML-N president. 

"This TT, TT should be stopped," he said. "Shehbaz Sharif's assets are declared with the FBR and ECP in accordance with the laws of Pakistan," he added, stating that Sharif had paid millions of rupees in tax over his property. 

Talking about PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz, Tarar said that it was unfortunate that a year had passed by and he was still languishing in prison. 

"He is innocent, there is no justification for his arrest," he said. "He will be freed Insha'Allah," he added, highlighting the PML-N leader's arrest by pointing out that he had been arrested for the first time when he was 18 years old. 

Urging the government to hold PTI leaders Khusro Bakhtiar and Jahangir Tareen, Tarar said that it was a "criminal failure" of PM Imran to put Sharif's life in danger, saying that the PML-N will hold him responsible for it. 

Shehbaz came back to face everything: Azma Bokhari

"Did Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz not return after the decision was taken [against them]," asked PML-N leader Azma Bokhari. "Did Shehbaz Sharif not return to the country? He came back to face everything," she added, saying that PM Imran's ego had still not been satisfied.

Bokhari rejected allegations that the party had not taken proper precautions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the PML-N had not held any public gathering even when it planned on pushing for protests against the government this year as it considered 2020 the "year of the election". 

She slammed the prime minister's aide Shahzad Akbar, saying that every single day he appeared on television screens to blame 'cartels' for sugar and petroleum crises. 

"If cartels are doing everything then why are you here? What is the use of appointing you? Have you been appointed so that we can see your face," she asked, saying that the government was not even competent enough to ensure people wore masks. 

Responding to Punjab government spokesperson Fayyaz Chohan, she said that he himself did not follow coronavirus safety protocols. She urged him not to go "below the belt", urging him to refrain from targeting the PML-N president.

"Don't stoop so low that we have to be ashamed to call you a human being," she said. Bokhari lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, saying that since he and Asad Umar were responsible for the sugar crisis in the country, it was time for them to "wrap up their government".

The PML-N leader called on the Punjab chief minister to step down, saying that he had become controversial after it was revealed that he had approved sugar subsidies and later stated he forgot about making the decision. 

Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb and other lawmakers test positive for COVID-19

A day earlier, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal tested positive for coronavirus.

"I request my friends and well-wishers to pray for my quick recovery," Iqbal had written on Twitter.

Earlier, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had tested positive for the coronavirus along with her mother she joined a long list of lawmakers who have tested positive for the virus, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PTI MPA from Sindh Khurrum Sher Zaman.