ISLAMABAD: The longstanding stands of three principal political forces vis-à-vis National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal underwent a quick change after the surfacing of leaked audio-video tapes involving him.But neither the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nor the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) concedes that it has taken a U-Turn, altering its respective stand concerning the NAB chief. However, their new policies clearly feature the adjustments for political expediency.The PML-N has been a harsh critic of Javed Iqbal and has been calling for his ouster, accusing him of discrimination and bias against it. It has been citing a number of its top leaders who have suffered at the hands of the NAB or are still facing grilling, fearing arrests anytime. Hardly a day passes when it has not been haranguing the NAB for its treatment of the Sharif family.However, when the present controversy exploded, the PML-N apparently amended its strategy and consciously avoided calls for Javed Iqbal’s stepping down. It rather promptly snubbed and disowned a statement issued by its prominent Punjab leader Malik Muhammad Khan, who asked for NAB chairman’s resignation and announced that he would go to the Supreme Court against him. The PML-N’s “soft” policy towards Javed Iqbal became immensely clear when its president Shahbaz Sharif had asked his party colleagues to stay away from the row over the tapes immediately after its eruption.All of a sudden, the PML-N stand towards the NAB head somehow softened. It has been focusing more on seeking a probe, instead of harping on Javed Iqbal’s resignation, into the controversy by a parliamentary committee, a demand that it knew was not going to lead it anywhere and its creation would be impossible because of its opposition by the ruling coalition.However, Hamza Shahbaz was an apparent exception as he criticised Javed Iqbal on Tuesday for his announcements at his presser that he (Hamza) has been hiding behind bail granted by a Lahore High Court (LHC) bench, which has now been broken, and he will soon be arrested after his bail will be cancelled [by the new bench], and “I personally prepared the questionnaire for Hamza.”When the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) assert that the prime objective behind the leak of the audio-video tapes is to blackmail the NAB chairman and coerce him into submission by the government, they in fact sympathised with the NAB chairman and poured more scorn on the regime.The PPP did call for Javed Iqbal’s resignation in a low voice in the wake of the emergence of the dubious tapes, but sharpened its attack on the government instead of the NAB chief. It stood with the PML-N in stressing that the matter must be probed by the parliamentary panel so that everything becomes clear.The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stand on the development has been interesting. It opposed the involvement of the parliament to look into the matter and paid no heed to the opposition’s demand to invoke Rule 244(B) of the Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business in the National Assembly to set up a special committee for the purpose.However, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has stated that the matter should be investigated thoroughly while other PTI leaders have disapproved any such inquest.Contradictions have been conspicuous in the statements of different government leaders whether the owner of the TV channel that aired the leaked tape was an officially notified adviser of the prime minister. Strangely, those who say he was not notified by the government stated that he was asked not to attend the official meetings after the questionable episode. Others said he had been present in official sessions despite having no official notification.The PTI’s main thrust has been to discard the onslaught of the PML-N and PPP that accused it of being the sponsor of the leak of the audio-video tapes to put the NAB chief under pressure so that he forgets about taking actions against its certain leaders and ministers.It is felt by all and sundry that the three major parliamentary parties are equally sick and tired of NAB actions but are shy of voicing this view in unison and then taking practical steps to suitably amend the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) to expunge its draconian clauses.Their talks held in the past much before the present situation came up remained fruitless because of lack of sincerity and seriousness. The government side wanted to bring about only those amendments that the Supreme Court recommended in different judgments. The opposition side wanted to remove the unnecessary harshness of the NAO.
from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2JL8vOX
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