LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have accused the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of putting his family business interests before those of the state following a leaked audio recording of an alleged conversation between PM and a government official, adding that the call also shows Maryam Nawaz’s meddling in government affairs.
A voice, purported to be that of Prime Minister Sharif, can be heard in the longer than two-minute audio tape that PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry posted on Twitter on Saturday asking him to help Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law Raheel with the import of machinery for a power plant from India.
If we do, we will face a lot of criticism when this issue is brought before the ECC and cabinet,” the official can be heard saying.
At this, the voice thought to belong to the PM says: “The son-in-law is very dear to Maryam Nawaz. Tell her very logically about this and then I will talk to her.”
The same voice also agrees with the perception that this would be bad for optics and may cause a lot of trouble, politically.
وزیر اعظم کی Leaked Call کئ حوالوں سے انتہائ تشویشناک ہے ہمیشہ کی طرح خاندانی کاروبارکےتحفظ کیلئے قوانین کو بالائے پشت رکھنا تو شریف فیملی کا پرانا وطیرہ ہے ہی لیکن ایکسپریس اور جیو کے نیوز ہیڈز کی شہباز شریف اور حکومتی مشورہ سازی میں کردار میڈیا پر ایک اور کلنک کا ٹیکا ہے https://t.co/bvgZIdMlls
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 24, 2022
Shortly after the audio surfaced online, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry expressed concern over the business dealings of the Sharif family.
The government and the PML-N have yet to make a statement on the alleged leaked call.
It is worth mentioning that Raheel, the son of industrialist Chaudhry Munir, married Maryam Nawaz’s daughter in December 2015. Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, also attended the wedding, making it noteworthy.
The other voice in the clip then raises a different issue with Ms. Nawaz’s son-in-housing law’s organization.
According to him, the Ittehad Park Housing Society needed a grid station erected, which the PM suggested should be handled “nationally.”
Former Justice Maqbool Baqir, whose name was being considered to lead the National Accountability Bureau, is mentioned near the conclusion of the leaded audio. In light of their experiences with the previous NAB chairman, Javed Iqbal, who was also a retired judge appointed by the PML-N government, the official is heard conveying to the premier the ‘suggestion’ of two media persons, requesting him not to consider the former judge for the position of NAB chairman.
Given that the nomination of the NAB chief was a topic of news about two months ago, this discussion aids in placing a time frame on the allegedly recorded conversation. Aftab Sultan, the former head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was then chosen to head the anti-corruption watchdog.
