Bilawal wants 'farcical' NAB abolished as govt defends newly passed ordinance.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday said that the recent promulgation of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance, 2019 was a tacit admission by the government that the corruption watchdog "is a farce" and should be "abolished".

Bilawal, in a tweet today, claimed that the ordinance was 'proof that it agrees with President Zardari' that 'NAB and the economy cannot run together'.

'Instead of clearly biased efforts, the government should work with opposition,' said the PPP chairperson, advising the government to do its "job and legislate".

The federal cabinet on Friday gave its approval to the NAB Ordinance, 2019, which was also approved by President Arif Alvi on the same day.

Under the ordinance, NAB will no longer be allowed to take action against government employees.

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 pursue corruption cases of Rs500 million and more.

Moreover, according to the new ordinance, 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.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information, Firdous Ashiq Awan, defended the NAB Ordinance.

The foreign minister, in a press conference in Multan, repeated that the government was not giving a National Reconciliation Order (NRO) to anyone. He clarified that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will not support any corrupt individuals and the party's stance on the matter was clear.

"PML-N and PPP demanded the review of NAB laws. Now, that we reviewed [the laws] and...