PML-N wants prisoners freed in wake of NAB law.

Byline: Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD -- The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has called for the release of all those opposition members being detained by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for no reason after the promulgation of the new ordinance which has curtailed certain powers and limited jurisdiction of the accountability watchdog.

In a statement on Monday, PML-N's information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb also asked Prime Minister Imran Khan and NAB chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal to apologise to the nation for holding its elected representatives 'hostage through illegal abductions'.

The government had last week promulgated the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2019, providing relief not only to bureaucrats and business community, but also to the politicians from across the aisle.

The two major opposition parties - the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - are critical of the government's move to curtail powers of NAB, alleging that the prime minister has introduced the ordinance to save himself, his cronies and allies from facing the accountability.

Asks prime minister, NAB chairman to apologise to nation

Ms Aurangzeb had stated that the ordinance had been brought to 'dry-clean the PTI regime and to halt all inquiries into their mega corruption scandals in all projects'. The ordinance, she had said, was a recipe cooked by the 'selected prime minister' to grant limitless NROs to his blue-eyed beneficiaries and his corrupt regime.

'After promulgation of this ordinance, all the innocent opposition members, including those belonging to the PML-N, should immediately be released,' Ms Aurangzeb said in her latest statement on Monday.

When contacted, Ms Aurangzeb, refuted the impression that she was seeking any relief for the opposition members under the new ordinance, saying that she was simply questioning NAB for placing the innocent people under detention for no reason.

She said the PML-N and its leaders did not agree with any law that was made to benefit a specific group and not for the greater positive reformation of the country and society.

'The PML-N has braved all channels of accountability, no matter how politicallymotivated. The PTI regime failed to prove any of its fictitious allegations in courts. The PML-N does not seek any relief through any such law, especially the one that comes without thorough parliamentary approval and proper constitutional procedure for parliamentary...