LETTER: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has been widely quoted as saying that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's departure to London for medical treatment caused a great setback to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI's) narrative and the process of accountability. His remarks that he made the other day have coincided with an 'announcement' by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar. According to Akbar, PM Imran Khan won't even give the "N" of "NRO Plus Plus" to the Opposition and will bring back "Nawaz his children and Ishaq Dar. The former prime minister had left the country for his treatment on certain conditions but none of these had been fulfilled."

Regardless of the credibility of PTI's narrative, the foregoing clearly indicates that the PTI-PML(N) relationship has gone beyond the point of no return; it is strongly marred by mutual distrust and disaffection. The point, however, is that whether the current state of affairs will augur well for the future prospects of democracy in Pakistan. Having said that, I must emphasise another point: Nawaz Sharif must be brought back to the country in accordance with country's and international laws and prosecuted with substantial evidence of the crime/offence and punished if he's found guilty as per law.

Yasin Wattoo (Sahiwal)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020