Opposition parties’ hypocrisy over NAB Amendment Ordinance

On Friday, the federal cabinet gave its approval to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance, 2019, which was also approved by President Arif Alvi the same day. Earlier, sources had said that the law ministry had forwarded a summary of the NAB Ordinance to Prime Minister Imran Khan so that it could be discussed at the next cabinet meeting, but that did not see the light of the day. The sources said that NAB will no longer be allowed to take action against government employees, as the bureaucrats were reluctant to take any decisions for the fear of the NAB. The proposed ordinance also states that the property of government employees cannot be frozen without a court order. Furthermore, if the accountability watchdog cannot complete an investigation against a suspect within three months, the accused will be entitled to bail.
In addition, NAB will now only be able to proceed in corruption cases of Rs.500 million and more. Moreover, according to the amendment, NAB’s jurisdiction over matters relating to tax, stock exchange and IPOs has been curtailed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and building control authorities will be the sole authorities tasked to act on all such matters. For land evaluation purposes, NAB will seek guidance from the Federal Board of Revenue or the District Collector. Major opposition parties – the PPP and the PML-N as well as the PTI government wanted to clip the powers of the NAB and its Chairman. In September 2019, a bill was moved in the Senate by PPP Senator Farooq H Naek to further amend the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 to curtail powers of NAB Chairman, which was not opposed by the government.
Yet, the opposition parties on Saturday rejected National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Ordinance 2019 promulgated by the PTI-led government through a presidential ordinance on Friday, which shows opposition parties’ hypocrisy. Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) spokesman Maryam Aurangzeb rejected the amendment ordinance. “Imran Khan is bringing the ordinance to stop the NAB inquires from his government’s schemes. The selected government’s ordinance is conspiracy to give NRO to corrupt government and their friends,” she added. The PML-N spokesperson also said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif wrote to the Supreme Court despite false allegations and presented himself for accountability. “If the current government does not steal then why they are bringing ordinance to close the NAB inquires from their corrupt schemes,” she asked. “Those who have not stolen anything like Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and the PML-N always present themselves for self-accountability,” she had the audacity to add.
Meanwhile, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted that the ordinance was passed by crossing the parliamentary system; the session of National Assembly is not being convened as well as the Senate meeting was also not convened for 116 days. Speaking to the journalists in Rawalpindi, PPP leader Nafeesa Shah said that the problems are prevailing all over the country and Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the sake of country. In September 2019 while tabling the NAB amendment bill in the Senate, Farooq H. Naek had said that the basic aim of the bill was also to do way with the draconian effect of the law. Through the proposed piece of legislation, the PPP sought some key amendments in the law, which also envisaged curtailing powers of NAB chairman. Explaining salient features of the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Senator Naek said that NAB should investigate the mega corruption cases of more than Rs.500 million.