LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for transparent and across-the-board accountability of the corrupt.

“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Sharif family are facing accountability. Accountability should be indiscriminate,” the chief minister told journalists after inspection of the under-construction Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute (PKLI) on Tuesday. He said that accountability should be all-inclusive and transparent. Since Nawaz Sharif is the PML-N leader, Shehbaz said, his instructions would be followed in letter and spirit. Rejecting PTI’s call for early elections, Shehbaz said that those demanding early elections had ruined Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Taking a swipe at PTI chief Imran Khan, Shehbaz said: “Mendacity, allegations and U-turns are hallmarks of PTI chairman. I don’t find it suitable to reply to their useless talk. The case is in progress in the court of law and this gentleman is saying that Shehbaz Sharif had offered him Rs10 billion.”

He went on to say: “Instead of appearing before the court, he (Imran) is saying the case may be transferred to Islamabad or elsewhere. The case is in progress in the court and instead of appearing before the court, he is saying that he has been offered Rs 10b; there is no other proof of his dishonesty. His allegations prove that he has gone bankrupt morally and politically.”

The CM accused Khan of wasting precious time of the nation through sit-ins. “Had the PML-N formed government in KP, hospitals and development projects would have been completed there,” he added.  About delay in completion of the Orange Line project, Shehbaz said that government’s appeal against the LHC stay order was pending in the Supreme Court. “The PTI has fully opposed this public welfare project and this party is responsible for the delay in completion of this project,” he said.

He said that allegations of corruption were levelled after launch of the metro bus project but corruption of even a single penny was not proved.

Slamming former president Asif Ali Zardari, Shehbaz said the PPP co-chairman had plundered six billion rupees and now he was preaching honesty. “The plunderer who looted the hard-earned money of the poor nation has no right to speak on corruption. Zardari as president got the constitutional cover and did not write to the Swiss government to open cases against him,” he said.

Rapping former PPP minister Babar Awan, the chief minister said he looted public money from the Nandipur Power Project and the Supreme Court had directed the NAB to act against him. Billions of rupees of the poor nation were usurped in rental power projects and institutions like NICL were robbed.

“Paradise Leaks have shown how the corrupt have encroached upon land in the country and how government land was purchased at cheaper rates.

Paradise Leaks have exposed characters like Niazi Sahib and others. These are critical questions, which require answers,” he said.