Amendments in NAB Ordinance should be based on principal: Shahzad Akbar

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar said that amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance should be made on the basis of a principal.

“Financial Action Task Force (FATF) wants accountability and transparency in our system regarding all the financial matters and money transactions. And whoever does corruption and money laundering should be held accountable,” Shahzad Akbar said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

Consequently, the opposition made one demand from us over the FATF rules in the form of a draft titled ‘Proposed Amendments by PPP and PML-N in NAB Ordinance’, which has been declared by Prime Minister Imran Khan as NRO-plus, he maintained. The documents proposed 34 amendments in the NAB Ordinance 1999, he relayed.

The PM’s adviser said that the opposition demanded that the government should make the amendments in the NAB law. “Only then we will support the ruling party, otherwise we will not,” he quoted the opposition parties as saying.

He said the government representatives had several sessions over the amendment proposal with the opposition parties for four days.

Shahzad Akbar said that the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) was not against amendments, however they should be made in the best interest of the people only.

“While, all those who have proposed the amendments are wanted by the NAB over criminal charges and they wanted to make the amendments in their personal benefit,” he said.

He said the PML-N and PPP had demanded to give them exemption from accountability on the wealth that they earned between 1985 and 1999.