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Government speaks on restoration of democracy

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The new administration says that the restoration of democracy in Pakistan was dependent on the "quantum of the damage done by the government of former prime minister to institutions, integrity of the country and recovery of national wealth plundered by him and his associates."

In a 34-page reply to the petition of the Pakistan Muslim League pending before the Supreme Court, the government lawyers said action taken by the National Accountability Bureau had so far resulted in the recovery of Rs 10 billions from bank defaulters and strict measures were under way to punish the corrupt and guilty.

The government denied the PML claim that it had been offered five billion dollars "by anyone for not pursuing the nuclear options and also denied that the former government had taken any effective steps towards national security.

While answering points raised by the Pakistan Muslim League in its petition, the reply also dragged in the preceding government of Benazir Bhutto on the question of foreign currency accounts.

It said: The former prime minister and his predecessor committed breach of faith with Pakistani banks, overseas and resident Pakistanis by removing 11 billion dollars lying in their accounts in Pakistan without their consent, using the same for unauthorised purposes which remain unexplained till to-date.

It also accuses Nawaz Sharif of freezing the foreign currency accounts and of having "misappropriated the foreign exchange belonging to resident and non-resident Pakistanis.

For the first time, the government accused publicly the former prime minister and 'his associates of 'unlawful transfer' of a huge sum of nearly 500 million dollars between May 6 to 28, 1998, to the detriment of the country.

Even after the decision to freeze the foreign exchange accounts, the former prime minister and his associates removed huge foreign exchange after banking hours, it said.

In this process, the govermnent reply mentioned, the then Director General, FIA stopped Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, the brother of Senator Saif-ur-Rahman from removing large amount of foreign exchange in cash at the Islamabad airport, as a result of which Maj Gen Inayatullah Niazi (Retd) was 'illegally' removed by the former prime minister from his position.