Shahbaz arrested, Zardari indicted in money laundering case
- ISLAMABAD; September 28,2020 proved a bad day for two main stream political parties of Pakistan.
PMLN chief, Shahbaz Sharif , was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Lahore and almost the same time PPP top guru, Asif Ali Zardari, was indicted by a NAB court in Islamabad.
Both ,Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari , have been accused of money laundering from Pakistan to a number of countries.
Asif Zardari, a man known for weathering his cases in the courts , did apply his most popular tactic of delay through his legal team in this case and managed series of adjournments ,but the judge of the Accountability Court made him to appear before the court instead wasting the court’s time and finally on Monday he was indicted with other accused in a mega money laundering case.
Zardari , once known as an iron man, seemed fragile and a weak man when the judge, Mohammad Azam , read out the charges and indicted in the case.
At the same time almost, a court dismissed bail plea of PMLN chief and opposition leader, which resulted in his arrest from the premises of the court. He has been arrested for interrogation for his alleged involvement in money laundering case.
The counsel of Shahbaz Sharif tried to make his point during the argument that his client, Shahbaz Sharif , had surrendered before the court and was fully compliant to NAB for investigation and his arrest as demanded by NAB prosecutor was unjustified.
The court after hearing the arguments of the both sides, dismissed Shahbaz Sharif’s bail plea.
The NAB team, which was already alert and waiting for final decision of the court, arrested Shahbaz Shahbaz. He was later presented for medical check up. The PMLN chief will be produced today before the court for his remand.
Arrest of Shahbaz Sharif and indictment of Asif Ali Zardari has created a storm in Pakistan’s politics. The opposition is making every possible effort to prove that Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest and indictment of PPP top man was a pre planned game of the government.
PMLN supremo, Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned arrest of his younger brother and termed it as a great injustice to the opposition parties. He once again announced that Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest can not force his party to give up struggle for success of his narrative.
His daughter Maryam Nawaz in her reaction to arrest of her uncle , said Shahbaz Sharif was punished for not betraying to his brother (Nawaz Sharif). She said only few could face burden of PMLN narrative.
PPP chairman Balawal Bhutto , condemned arrest of Shahbaz Sharif and warned the government to stop victimisation of political opponents.
From the government side, Information minister Shibli Faraz, federal minister for Science and Technology , Fawad Chaudhary, defended Shahbaz Sharif ‘s arrest and indictment of Asif Zardri in money laundering case.
Meanwhile, after arrest of Shahbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif announced by phone from London that his daughter , Maryam Nawaz , will look after the party issues. His decision was not a surprise for anyone in Pakistan. He was making all out efforts for months rather for years to make Maryam Nawaz as his political heir. Shahbaz’s arrest provided him this much-awaited golden opportunity.
Many high ranking party leaders like Nisar Ali Khan and Khawaja Asif had become a persona non grata in the party in the recent past for opposing Nawaz Sharif’s desire of making his daughter his replacement as PMLN chief .
The same desire of Nawaz Sharif had created rift in Sharif dynasty.
Shahbaz Sharif wanted his son Hamaza Shahbaz to take over the party but he could not dare to oppose Nawaz Sharif”s move favouring Maryam Nawaz to be the next PMLN boss.
In another related development, opposition has convened an emergent meeting of newly formed Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) today to discuss the situation arising after Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest.