News Analysis |
Prime Minister Imran Khan held a meeting with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Retired Justice Javed Iqbal at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. In his first meeting with the NAB chairman, PM Khan expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Bureau.
He informed the NAB chairman that PTI lead coalition government’s top priority was to eradicate corruption and promote the meritocracy, and transparency in the country. He stressed to conduct the indiscriminate accountability across the board.
He expressed his desire to further strengthening the anti-graft body and increasing the capacity and the capabilities of institutions. Retired Justice Iqbal congratulated the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman on assuming the prime ministerial office on August 18.
PM Imran seems content with the NAB’s performance and with more autonomy, it [NAB] would be more equipped to investigate and prosecute the corrupt individuals across Pakistan without hurdles.
During his campaign trail, Mr. Khan had promised the accountability and corruption-free Pakistan. In his party’s 100-day agenda, Mr. Khan had vowed to transform the governance in the country and promised to bring accountability to the center of government. “We will improve how government performs by ensuring blind accountability across the board,” PTI chairman assured.
Read more: Ahsan Iqbal accuses NAB of pre-poll rigging?
PTI guaranteed full autonomy for NAB and decided to establish a special task force to recover looted national wealth parked in offshore tax havens. Mr. Khan’s whole campaign revolved around the accountability and to end the widespread graft in one of the most corrupt countries in the world. According to the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017, Pakistan is ranked at 117th among the 1800 nations worldwide.
After winning the 25th July elections, Imran Khan reiterated his desire to empower NAB in his maiden speech as PM of the country. Even, as a PM-elect, Mr. Khan vowed that he won’t spare anyone who looted the tax-payers money and promised strict accountability.
Mr. Khan had vowed to transform the governance in the country and promised to bring accountability to the center of government.
In the run-up to the elections, Bureau came under severe criticism over allegations of the witch-hunt from the previous PML-N regime. PML-N leadership and journalists came down hard on Justice Iqbal over a foul play in Sindh, where it had closed down the corruption inquiries against several influential PPP leaders.
Bureau insisted to not have found concrete evidence against the Mir Munawwar Talpur. The previous regime attacked NAB at the end of its tenure. PML-N’s Supreme leader and jailed former PM Nawaz Sharif termed the NAB ordinance as a black law enacted by the General retired Pervez Musharraf.
Read more: Ahsan Iqbal warns US against unilateral action on Pakistani soil
The resurgence of NAB’s investigations can be attributed to the appointment of NAB chairman Javed Iqbal on October 08, 2017. After taking over, he assured that anti-graft watchdog adopts a robust policy to eradicate corruption from the country.
NAB has opened up cases across the board, against the political parties, and military personnel over their alleged involvement in corruption cases. It is sticking to its policy of accountability for all as the country’s prosperity lies in eliminating corruption.
PM Imran seems content with the NAB’s performance and with more autonomy, it [NAB] would be more equipped to investigate and prosecute the corrupt individuals across Pakistan without hurdles.