Maryam, Bilawal meet amid arrests of opposition leaders
ISLAMABAD : Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto met on Sunday to discuss the political situation in Pakistan amid doubts of political vendetta about recent arrests of PPP and PML leaders.
The arrests of Bhutto’s father Asif Ali Zardari and sister led to questions about the timing as well as the intentions of the government.
Hamza Shahbaz, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart and leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, was also arrested by the anti-graft body on money-laundering charges. He is the son of Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition in parliament.
With the arrest of Zardari, both major opposition leaders in the country and now behind bars. Nawaz Sharif has been in jail since 2018. The leader of the fourth largest political force in the country, Altaf Hussain of the MQM, is already spending time in exile fearing arrest if he returns to Pakistan. He had been detained by the London police in a separate case.
The list does not end there. Leaders of the Pakhtoon Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which protested army actions in the tribal areas, have all been put behind bars.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he will arrest all those involved in money laundering and corruption “come what may”. The problem, say critics, is that the accountability is selective as only opposition leaders are targeted. Some say that the issue isn’t corruption. It is politics.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the media the arrests have come ahead of plans for a joint political movement against the Imran Khan government.
There is also an impression that only those who go against the military are hauled up before the courts.