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PML-N rejects investigation by FIA
[Dawn]  The Pakistain Mohammedan League-N came out on Sunday with a clear stance on the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan case and said it accepted the decision but rejected an investigation by the FIA into distribution of money by the ISI among politicians in 1990.Two days after the court decision which declared that the 1990 elections had been "polluted", party stalwart and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said at a presser that his party wanted investigations through an "independent judicial commission" and not by the FIA which was under the control of the ministry headed by Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. "We accept the SC decision in letter and spirit and are ready to cooperate, but a probe through the FIA is totally unacceptable," said Chaudhry Nisar, whose party was part of the nine-party Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) that was formed and supported by the then military establishment in a bid to defeat the Pakistain People's Party (PPP) in the polls. He expressed surprise over the SC move to give responsibility of the investigation to the FIA despite knowing its "performance" over the past four years. He questioned the FIA's role in investigations into various corruption scams. "Did the FIA carry out a transparent probe into the NICL, OGDCL and Haj scams," he appeared to be asking the SC. He termed the SC verdict a "welcome development" and expressed the hope that it would curtail (intelligence) agencies' role in future elections. But he voiced "reservations" over paragraph 14 of the judgment in which the government had been directed to carry out an investigation through the FIA into allegations against politicians, including  Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , of having received money from the ISI prior to the 1990 elections. Without saying anything about composition of the judicial commission proposed by his party, Chaudhry Nisar said the PML-N could approach the court on the issue, if needed. "We are ready to face accountability. However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the SC (in its verdict) has called for a transparent inquiry which is not possible through the FIA," he said. He said the proposed commission should investigate the role of the agencies since the time former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent... , according to him, approved the setting up of a political wing in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "There should be an open trial. Nothing should be kept secret so that people should know who had given money to whom," he said. Posted by: Fred 2012-10-23 |
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