Alleged corruption case: Abbasi terms PML-N candidate's arrest 'pre-poll rigging'

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday criticized the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket holder from NA-59 Rawalpindi-III, Qamarul Islam, by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in alleged corruption case of Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC).
Talking to reporters outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after the election tribunal allowed him and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi to contest elections from NA-53, the former premier termed the arrest of party's candidate pre-poll rigging and urged the NAB to immediately release him. "It is regrettable that a person who had never been investigated was arrested all of a sudden. He should be released immediately," he added.
Qamarul Islam, a former chairman of the Saaf Pani Company and accused of having awarded contracts for 84 water treatment plants at higher prices, was arrested by Lahore NAB on Monday last and an accountability court on Tuesday handed him over to the NAB on 14 days remand.
Islam was awarded the party ticket on Sunday last to contest election against former interior minister and the party's dissident Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from NA-59, Rawalpindi.
The arrest of party's candidate was also criticized by PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif in a statement from London while the party's spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb indicated that the matter would be raised with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
"The NAB is only highlighting the issues related to PML-N on the basis of allegations," Abbasi further remarked. About the upcoming general election, he said that questions are being raised from various circles on holding of the polls in a free, fair and transparent manner.
On the cases against Sharif family in the accountability court, he said that Nawaz Sharif has appeared for around one hundred times before the court so far. "But there is no hope that Nawaz Sharif will get justice...Justice should be served and it should be visible," he added.
Earlier, the Islamabad election tribunal cleared Abbasi to contest the upcoming polls from the NA-53, Islamabad-II constituency. The returning officer for Islamabad's NA-53 constituency on June 19 last rejected the former prime minister's nomination papers on the ground that Abbasi did not complete the affidavit of the nomination forms.
Justice Moshin Akhtar Kayani, who was hearing the appeal, overruled the returning officer's objection and allowed Abbasi to contest election from NA-53.
Abbasi contended that returning officers cannot challenge a candidate's statements. "I have always opined that election results cannot be decided in courts but it is for the people to decide about the fate of any candidate," he added.