ISLAMABAD: Incarcera­ted former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the extension of the army chief is a serious matter that should not be trivialised, as the institution cannot afford public bickering on the issue.

Talking to journalists after attending proceedings in the LNG terminal case at the accountability court of Islamabad on Monday, the ex-premier in response to a question about the extension in the tenure of COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said: “The issue should not be made a children’s game. Whatever is the decision, it should be unanimous; the army cannot afford such public bickering on this issue.”

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a detailed verdict on the matter.

Responding to another question related to the controversy surrounding the appointments of the members of the ECP and the Chief Election Commis­sioner (CEC), Mr Abbasi said the PML-N had suggested to the ruling PTI a formula for making such appointments. He said the PML-N would accept one of the three nominees suggested by the PTI for CEC’s appointment if the ruling party also agreed upon the two PML-N nominees for the appointment of ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan.

About the LNG terminal reference, the incarcerated ex-PM said the NAB had prepared a baseless case. Out of around 10 suspects in the case, two had been behind bars for the past several months.

NAB had filed LNG terminal reference against the ex-PM, former finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail and ex-managing director of PSO Sheikh Imranul Haq and seven other suspects before the accountability court.

LNG reference

While taking up the reference earlier on Monday, Judge Mohammad Bashir of the accountability court summoned all the suspects for Jan 6. The court would distribute copies of the reference among all the accused before fixing a date for their indictment.

Former chairman of the Ogra Saeed Ahmed Khan, Ogra chairperson Uzma Adil Khan, Engro group chairman Hussain Dawood, former chairman of PQA Agha Jan Akhtar, former member of Ogra Aamir Naseem, and PSO official Abdul Sammad were also nominated in the case.

The reference filed by the anti-graft watchdog in the accountability court stated that one LNG company had received benefits to the tune of over Rs21 billion because of the contract that had allegedly been awarded against rules. It further said the national exchequer would suffer Rs47bn loss by 2029 if the contract in question continued.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2019