PAKISTAN: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Saturday said return of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari was not the result of a deal with the government.
The Interior Minister, during an informal discussion with reporters, clarified that there was no deal or assurances between the government and the PPP leadership.
He said that main reason for the differences and recent tiff with the PPP was because the party wanted the cases against their leadership including opposition leader Khursheed Shah to be put on hold but he did not accede to their demands.
Nisar said that he has regular meetings with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and had even offered his resignation in his recent meetings which was not accepted. He said that he was in politics for 35 years and will leave with dignity and respect.
He also said that the plea-bargain deal by the National Accountability Bureau is tantamount to leaving criminals scot-free. He was referring to the agreement struck between the accountability body and former finance secretary Balochistan Mushtaq Raisani.
Raisani who was arrested in August in Quetta after trove of cash worth Rs730 million was found in his house and was alleged to be involved in corruption worth Rs.40 billion made a plea-bargain worth Rs.2 billion.
Chaudhry Nisar agreed for the need to make agreements in the NAB laws, and said that their party wanted to make amendments during the previous government of the PPP but did not receive any support from them.
He decried that the plea-bargain agreement by the NAB was shameful and gives the impression that it is promoting corruption in the country.
