News Desk |
Murad Saeed, Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services, on Monday, stated that the former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been booked for five more cases concerning the crookedness in awarding contracts, and these cases have been dispatched to a high-powered commission investigating the loans obtained and used by the former governments in the past decade.
(1/4) Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed & SAPM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar Press Conference Islamabad (08.07.19)@MuradSaeedPTI@ShazadAkbar pic.twitter.com/BQFy18z2ND
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 8, 2019
Speaking at a press conference alongside Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar on Monday, Murad Saeed, “The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is already looking into the corruption cases, and now these cases are being dispatched to the inquiry commission as well.”
Murad Saeed noted that the two parties, Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, who were seen accusing each other of corruption during their respective tenures, went silent when they realized that collaborating and shrouding each other’s corruption was more favorable for their vested interests and the “health of the democracy”.
The leaders of both PPP and PML-N were threatening each other and exposing their corruptions on the parliament floor, but soon, they found their advantages in hiding each other’s corruptions for the so-called health of the democracy.
Addressing the press at the conference, Murad Saeed said, “All cases of corruption will be brought to a logical conclusion and justice will be ensured.”
Crookedness in Awarding Contracts
Muraad Saeed noted that in 2008, Shahbaz Sharif had issued a notification for the appointment of Mustafa Kamal, the brother of PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal, to be appointed as the Chairman of the Chief Minister’s Horticulture Task Force.
(2/4) Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed & SAPM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar Press Conference Islamabad (08.07.19)@MuradSaeedPTI@ShazadAkbar pic.twitter.com/nPQRB4DN4C
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 8, 2019
Mr. Kamal was awarded five contracts, which was a blatant violation of rules and regulations pertaining how contracts are awarded.
Highlighting the contracts, Minister Murad Saeed noted that these contracts included the Lahore Metro, University of Punjab’s Gujarat Campus, Islamabad-Rawalpindi Metro, and projects in Lahore’s Liberty Market were awarded to Mustafa Kamal without undergoing the necessary process of holding bidding and floating tenders.
(3/4) Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed & SAPM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar Press Conference Islamabad (08.07.19)@MuradSaeedPTI@ShazadAkbar pic.twitter.com/Z9oe4kMCoF
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 8, 2019
Muraad Saeed highlighted that Shahbaz Sharif had devised special payment measures to make sure that the money is smoothly transferred to the front-man under the guise of various projects. The Federal Minister stated that two cases against the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-N leadership have been forwarded to the commission to investigate the embezzlement and fraud in projects of the National Highway Authority (NHA).
Saeed highlighted that the federal government has identified misappropriation of billions of rupees by a contractor involved in the National Highway Authority (NHA) approved for Larkana and Multan during the PPP’s tenure. The contract was given to Ashraf Baloch, who has also been implicated in the fake bank account cases.
Read more: Corruption & Pakistan: Only one thing can stay
Muraad Saeed stated that another case was forwarded to the inquiry commission is filed against Ahsan Iqbal, and the investigators have documentary evidences that hold the PML-N leader responsible for losses worth Rs50 billion in award of the Multan-Sukkur road project.
The Minister added that in 2013, Ahsan Iqbal had signed an MOU for the Multan-Sukkur road project with a construction company, and the construction was set to be completed by 2015. Iqbal has now been claiming that this MoU was signed on the orders of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Charter of Dacoit: PPP & PML-N
(4/4) Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed & SAPM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar Press Conference Islamabad (08.07.19)@MuradSaeedPTI@ShazadAkbar pic.twitter.com/hpNLmx38S8
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 8, 2019
Federal minister Muraad Saeed stated that the PPP and PML-N leadership are in cahoots to protect and shroud each other’s corruption, as they have signed a “charter of dacoity”.
Muraad Saeed said, “In the recent past, the leaders of both PPP and PML-N were threatening each other and exposing their corruptions on the parliament floor, but soon, they found their advantages in hiding each other’s corruptions for the so-called health of the democracy.”
Shahzad Akbar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, noted that the opposition parties are joined together by a common “ideology”-which revolves around how to escape the ongoing accountability process and hide their corruption.
The fight against corrupt politicians and plunderers of the national treasury will not end until every single looted penny is recovered and returned to the country.
Comparing them to the Sicilian mafia, Akbar noted, “The opposition parties are joined by a common ideology of looting, plundering, corruption and money laundering.”
The Special Assistant to the PM on Accountability noted that in the past, PPP and PML-N, had been framing each other in scores of corruption cases and sending their opponents to jail, but today, the two parties realize the value of their cooperation in escaping accountability.
Shahzad Akbar stressed that the entire opposition is in an “attacking mode” given the heightening efforts of the accountability process, agitation and anti-government movements are expected. However, he noted that the people of Pakistan want to eliminate corrupt leaders and wealth plunderers, which is why they voted for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Akbar stressed that Premier Imran Khan will not breach the trust of the people by brokering deals with the corrupt wealth plunderers.
Saeed highlighted that the National Highway Authority has succeeded in recovering around Rs7, 880 million from multiple contractors during the past eight months, majority of whom are now “creating a hue and cry in the parliament.”
Read more: Who approached PTI’s Murad Saeed for an NRO?
Muraad Saeed stressed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the fight against corrupt politicians and plunderers of the national treasury will not end until every single looted penny is recovered and returned to the country.