Ex-chairman NAB justice (retd) Javed Iqbal should reveal assets before nation: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

KARACHI, Sep 12 (SABAH): Former prime minister and Senior Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that former chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal should reveal his assets before the nation as at first he was supposed to fulfill the conditions of accountability.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed these views after appearing before an accountability court in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) case in Karachi on Monday. The PML-N leader said that he was always of opinion that an institution like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should be abolished as in presence of this Bureau, no government officer will work.

The former prime minister said he only oversees energy related matters along with two ministers of energy, adding he has no other responsibility. He said that everyone gets worried when Finance Minister Miftah Ismail does not reduce the price of petrol but this is also a reality that Miftah Ismail has no motive in increasing the price unnecessarily.

The former prime minister further said that “we should know the facts about oil prices are determined in the country. As for prices of oil, petrol and diesel are concerned; these prices are regulated by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA). There are 12 elements which play their role in this regard where in 10 of them has no connection with the government as these are relating to their prices at the international level. One is sales tax which is zero and other is levy which should be Rs 50; however, it is Rs 30 or Rs 35.”

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that oil prices are also affected by the matters relating to demand and supply, adding that prices increase when demand increases. “We are trying that this matter be deregulated so that market on its own can fix the prices. The country is suffering due to wrong polices of past four years,” he added. 

The current government took many difficult decisions and if these decisions were made earlier, the situation in the country would not have been like this, he said.