ISLAMABAD: The government and the main opposition party on Tuesday indulged in a war of words over the controversy about the Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) project with a key minister ruling out the possibility of involvement of any cabinet member in the scam on the one hand, while on the other PML-N leaders accused the former of protecting the people involved in it.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that no evidence of involvement of any minister or prime minister’s aide in the RRR project scam had been found.

In a series of tweets, he said that an initial investigation by the Rawalpindi commissioner had revealed involvement of a former Rawalpindi commissioner and other officials in the scam. However, no proof of involvement of any minister or prime minister’s aide had been found as yet, he added.

However, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) accused the government of protecting people involved in the scam.

PML-N accuses govt of protecting people involved in the scandal

PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while talking to reporters claimed that everyone in Prime Minister’s House was busy making money.

According to Mr Chaudhry, Prime Minister Imran Khan was informed that the length of the ring road was increased to 23 kilometres to benefit a housing society and, consequently, the government had to release Rs20 billion to buy additional land.

The minister said that it was only in the government of Prime Minister Khans that investigations were launched against political leaders from the ruling party when allegations were levelled against them.

This was not the case when the Pakistan Peoples Party and the PML-N were in power.

“This is the change of the system. Government officials should have the fear of accountability [and] not even the most powerful are above the law,” Mr Chaudhry tweeted. “The prime minister’s policy on accountability is clear. All citizens are equal in the eyes of the law.”

PML-N leader Abbasi’s hard-hitting remarks came a day after Special Assistant to the PM on overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari resigned from his post over the Rawalpindi Ring Road scandal.

Mr Abbasi however termed the resignation an attempt to protect the real culprits behind the scam and befool the people.

He said that while records of corruption had been set by those in power, no one from the government side had been arrested.

On the other hand, he said, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had remained behind the bars though there was no proof of corruption or money laundering against him.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2021