Hamza vows to fight 'legal and constitutional battle' against Shehbaz Sharif's arrest

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shehbaz on Friday termed his father’s arrest by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a “case of political revenge”, ARY News reported.

“Why is it that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) only arrests PML-N leaders before elections and does this job perfectly,” Hamza Shehbaz while addressing a press conference.

The PML-N MPA maintained that Shehbaz Sharif was arrested for cancelling the contract with the contractor Chaudhry Latif who was involved in corruption in Orange Line train and Sargodha train project.

Hamza Shehbaz accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of entering into a collusion with NAB to make sure PML-N leaders are arrested before upcoming by-polls.

He maintained that his party and family has seen harder times during former military dictator General (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure when he used to sit hours outside NAB office in politically motivated cases.

“I used to sit hours after NAB office during Musharraf-era and was not even allowed to leave Lahore, when Musharraf’s tenure ended then NAB chairman told me he was under a lot of pressure to bring up cases against Sharif family,” said Hamza Shehbaz.

He urged the PTI government to stop bringing “politically motivated” cases against Sharif family for he would gain nothing as his family is honest.

“I am proud to be Shehbaz Sharif’s son and Nawaz Sharif’s nephew for they have served country. My father taught me that one can’t take worldly belongings with oneself as funeral shroud doesn’t have pockets,” said Hamza Shehbaz.

The PML-N leader also criticised the PTI government for failing to deliver both in Punjab and in center and accused them of arresting his father to influence the upcoming by-polls.

“They (PTI leadership) fear the opposition’s strong position in upcoming by-polls,” said Hamza Shehbaz.

Urging PML-N workers to stay calm, Hamza Shehbaz vowed to fight “legal and constitutional battle” against his father’s arrest.

Earlier in the day, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Rs14 billion Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme case.

The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly has been accused of corruption in the Ashiana Housing case.

He will be produced before an accountability court for remand tomorrow. He will be kept in a highly-secured lock-up inside the NAB Lahore office until his appearance in court.

PML-N’s parliamentary party too condemned the arrest by terming it against the parliamentary norms.